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THROUGH  THE  FIRST 
ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 


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THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

I898-I899 

A  NARRATIVE  OF  THE  VOYAGE  OF  THE  '^BELGICa"  AMONG 

NEWLY  DISCOVERED  LANDS  AND  OVER  AN  UNKNOWN 

SEA  ABOUT  THE  SOUTH  POLE 

BY 

FREDERICK  A.  COOK,  M.D. 

SURGEON  AND   ANTHROPOLOGIST  OF  THE  BELGIAN  ANTARCTIC  EXPEDITION 
WITH  AN  APPENDIX  CONTAINING  A  SUMMARY  OF  THE  SCIENTIFIC  RESULTS 

miuatrateb 


NEW  YORK 
DOUBLEDAY,  PAGE  &  COMPANY 
1909 


si 


Copyright,  1900,  by 
Frederick  A.  Cook. 


Portions  of  this  narrative  have  appeared  in  the  Century,  Scribtuv's 
and  McClure's.  Though  this  material  has  been  much  changed 
and  rewritten^  my  acknowledgments  are  due  to  these  magazines. 


TO  THE  LITTLE  FAMILY, 
THE  OFFICERS,  THE  SCIENTIFIC  STAFF,  AND 

THE  CREW  OF  THE  "BELGICA," 

WHOSE  FORTUNES  AND  MISFORTUNES  MADE 

THIS  STORY  OF  THE  FIRST  HUMAN  EXPERIENCE 

THROUGHOUT  A  SOUTH  POLAR  YEAR  ; 

TO  THESE  MEN, 

WHOSE  CLOSE  COMPANIONSHIP  AND  STURDY 

GOOD-FELLOWSHIP  MADE  LIFE   ENDURABLE 

DURING  THE  STORMS,  THE 

DARKNESS,  AND  THE  MONOTONY 

OF  THE  ANTARCTIC, 

THIS  BOOK  IS  DEDICATED. 


Mi  f^i  fZ'y^ 


INTRODUCTION. 

For   three   hundred  years   explorers   have   been 
active  in  pushing  aside  the  realms  of  the  unknown 
towards  the  north  pole ;  but  the  equally  interesting 
south  pole  has,   during  all  this   time,  been   almost 
wholly  neglected.     There  have  been  expeditions  to 
the  far  south,  but  compared  to  arctic  ventures  they 
have  been  so  few  and  their  work  within  the  polar 
circle  has  been  so  little  that  the  results  have  been 
largely  forgotten.     It  is  not  because  valuable  results 
have  not  been  obtained  in  the  antarctic,  but  because 
the   popular   interest  in   the  arctic  has  completely 
overshadowed  the  reports  of  the  antipodes.     The 
search  for  the  North-west  and  the  North-east  pass- 
ages, which  commerce  demanded  to  reach  the  trade 
of  the  Orient  during  the  seventeenth  and  the  early 
part  of  the  eighteenth  centuries,  fixed  the  public  eye 
persistently    northward.      This    extended    effort   to 
find  an  easy  path  to  the  wealth  of  Asia  was  fruit- 
less, but  it  was  followed  by  a  whale   fishery,  a  seal- 
ing industry,  and  a  fur  trade,  which  have  proved  a 
priceless  boon  to  mankind.     As  a  result  of  these 
two   periods   of   trade    exploration,    we   have    now 
entered  upon   a  third  stage,  a  period  of  scientific 
research  which  will  not,  and  should  not,  end  until 


INTRODUCTION 

the  entire  area  is  outlined  in  the  growing  annals  of 
exact  knowledge. 

The  antarctic  has  a  history  somewhat  similar,  but 
it  is  almost  forgotten.  Until  1772  the  south  frigid 
zone  was  pictured  by  fiction  writers  in  flowery 
phraseology.  They  placed  here  a  fertile  country, 
projecting  far  northward  into  the  Atlantic  and  the 
Pacific.  This  land  was  supposed  to  be  inhabited  by 
a  curious  race  of  people  who  possessed  a  super- 
abundance of  gold,  precious  stones,  and  other 
material  wealth.  To  learn  the  truth  of  this  new 
**  land  of  promise  "  Capt.  James  Cook  was  sent  out 
in  1772.  Cook,  wath  a  thoroughness  which  char- 
acterised all  his  efforts,  circumnavigated  the  globe 
close  enough  to  the  antarctic  circle  to  convince  the 
world  that  if  land  of  large  extent  existed  around 
the  south  pole  it  must  be  far  beyond  the  usual  ice- 
limits.  Sixty  years  later,  through  the  efforts  of 
American  and  British  sealers  who  had  searched 
every  known  rock  of  the  southern  seas  for  fur-seals, 
and  sea-elephants,  the  United  States,  England,  and 
France,  fitted  out  rival  expeditions.  The  combined 
work  of  these  expeditions  marked  the  second  period 
of  antarctic  exploration  and  resulted  in  the  re- 
establishment  of  a  great  polar  continent  on  the 
Austral  chart.  Sixty  years  again  passed  before 
another  expedition  was  sent  to  press  beyond  the 
southern  barriers  of  ice.  The  voyage  of  the  Bel- 
gica  is  the  beginning  of  a  third  revival  of  ant- 
arctic exploration  which  has  been  brought  about  by 
determined  efforts,  made  almost  simultaneously  in 
England,  Germany,  Belgium,  and  the  United  States. 

viii 


INTRODUCTION 

This  third  period  of  antarctic  research,  like  the 
third  stage  of  arctic  exploration,  is  wholly  in  the 
interest  of  science. 

The  first  country  to  complete  the  outfit  of  a 
modern  expedition  was  Belgium.  England  and 
Germany  now  have  expeditions  in  preparation,  but 
the  honour  of  being  the  first  to  send  a  scientific  ven- 
ture, with  trained  specialists  and  appropriate  equip- 
ment to  the  antarctic,  belongs  to  Belgium. 

For  the  origin  of  the  Belgian  Antarctic  Expedi- 
tion we  are  indebted  to  the  energetic  efforts  of 
Lieutenant  Adrien  de  Gerlache.  By  soliciting  pri- 
vate subscriptions  and  finally  by  securing  the  finan- 
cial aid  of  the  Belgian  Government,  Gerlache  suc- 
ceeded in  collecting  the  sixty  thousand  dollars  which 
were  barely  sufficient  to  fit  out  the  enterprise.  The 
vessel  selected  for  the  mission  was  the  Norwegian 
sealer  Patria,  which  was  rechristened  Belgica, 
She  is  a  strong  vessel,  of  about  two  hundred  and 
fifty  tons,  built  some  ten  years  ago.  She  was  not 
strengthened  or  altered  on  the  plan  of  Nansen's 
vessel,  the  Fram,  as  has  been  so  often  stated.  Nev- 
ertheless, she  proved  herself  a  craft  of  extraordinary 
endurance,  withstanding  the  thumps  of  rocks,  ice- 
berg collisions,  and  pressure  in  the  pack-ice,  in  a 
manner  perfectly  marvellous.  Owing  to  a  scarcity 
of  funds,  the  accoutrements  of  the  ship  and  the  out- 
fit for  polar  exploration  were  somewhat  imperfect. 
If  we  had  been  compelled  to  stay  longer,  or  if  it 
had  been  necessary  to  make  a  forced  overland  jour- 
ney, or  a  retreat  homeward  on  the  ice,  we  should 
have  found  our  equipment  inadequate. 

ix 


INTRODUCTION. 

The  members  of  the  expedition  were  from  many- 
lands,  as  the  following  list  will  show: 

Commandant,  Adrien  de  Gerlache  (Belgian). 

Captain,  Georges  Lecointe  (Belgian),  Executive 
Officer  and  Hydrographer. 

Roald  Amundsen  (Norwegian),  ist  Mate. 

Emile  Danco  (deceased)  (Belgian),  Magnetician. 

Emile  Racovitza  (Rumanian),  Naturalist. 

Henryk  Arctowski  (Russian),  Geologist,  Oceanog- 
rapher  and  Meteorologist. 

Antoine  Dobrowolski  (Russian),  Assistant  Meteo- 
rologist. 

Frederick  A.  Cook  (American),  Surgeon  An- 
thropologist and  Photographer. 

ENGINEERS. 
Henri  Somers  (Belgian).       Max  Van  Rysselberghe 

(Belgian). 

SAILORS. 
Belgians.  Norwegians. 

Jules  Melaerts.  Adam  Tollefsen. 

Jan  Van  Mirlo.  Hjalmar  Johansen. 

Gustave  Dufour.  Johan  Koren. 

Louis  Michotte.  Engebret  Knudsen. 

Carl  Augustus  Wiencke  (deceased). 

Altogether  we  numbered  nineteen  when  leaving 
Punta  Arenas  —  seven  officers,  housed  in  the  cosy 
little  cabins,  and  twelve  marines,  including  Dobro- 
wolski, housed  in  the  forecastle.  Thus  divided,  we 
were  two  happy  families,  and  as  such  we  tried  to 


INTRODUCTION 

extract  from  the  frozen  south  polar  surroundings  such 
rare  comforts  as  regions  of  perennial  snows  afford. 

The  Belgica  left  Antwerp  at  the  end  of  August, 
1897.  She  steamed  and  sailed  down  the  Atlantic  to 
Madeira,  then  across  to  Rio  de  Janeiro,  down  to 
Montevideo,  and  into  the  Strait  of  Magellan  to 
Punta  Arenas.  After  spending  some  time  in  the 
Fuegian  channels  and  among  the  Cape  Horn  Indian 
tribes,  we  took  our  departure  from  the  known  world, 
at  Staten  Island  on  January  13,  1898.  We  sighted 
the  South  Shetland  Islands  a  week  later,  where,  dur- 
ing a  violent  tempest,  we  lost  by  an  accidental  fall 
overboard,  the  young  and  faithful  Norwegian  sailor, 
Wiencke.  We  next  crossed  the  ever-foggy  and 
ever-tempestuous  waters  of  Bransfield  Strait,  and  on 
the  afternoon  of  January  23,  1898,  came  in  sight  of 
the  outer  fringe  of  a  new  land,  the  Palmer  Archipel- 
ago. Entering  this,  we  discovered  a  new  highway, 
which  in  size  compares  favourably  with  Magellan 
Strait.  To  the  east  and  west  of  this  strait,  we 
charted  about  five  hundred  miles  of  a  land  which 
had  never  before  been  seen  by  human  eyes  —  part 
of  a  great  continental  mass  which  probably  surrounds 
the  south  pole.  It  is  buried  even  in  midsummer 
under  a  ponderous  weight  of  perennial  ice.  Passing 
out  of  the  strait,  we  entered  the  South  Pacific,  and 
after  skirting  the  western  border  of  Grahamland  to 
Adelaide  Island  and  then  to  Alexander  Island,  we 
attempted  to  enter  the  main  body  of  the  pack-ice 
westward. 

The  work  of  the  first  three  weeks  in  the  new 
regions  proved  the  discovery   of  a   highway   per- 

xi 


INTRODUCTION 

fectly  free  for  navigation  during  the  summer  months 
from  Bransfield  Strait,  two  hundred  miles  south- 
westerly, through  an  unknown  land  to  the  Pacific. 
This  highway  has  received  the  name  of  our  ship. 
To  the  east  of  Belgica  Strait  we  discovered  a  high, 
continuous  country  which  probably  connects  with 
the  land  charted  as  Grahamland.  This  has  been 
christened  Dancoland,  in  memory  of  our  com- 
panion, Lieutenant  Danco,  who  died  on  the  ship 
during  the  long  drift  in  the  pack-ice.  The  land 
to  the  west  of  the  strait  is  cut  up  into  islands  by 
several  channels,  and  is  named  Palmer  Archipelago, 
in  honour  of  Captain  Nathaniel  Palmer,  the  Ameri- 
can sealer  who  was  the  first  of  all  men  to  see 
the  outer  fringe  of  this  land.  Scattered  about  in 
the  waters  of  Belgica  Strait  are  about  one  hun- 
dred islands  and  several  groups  of  islands.  About 
fifty  of  these  are  of  considerable  size.  The  islands, 
the  capes,  the  bays,  the  headlands,  and  the  moun- 
tains have  mostly  received  the  names  of  Belgian 
friends  of  the  expedition ;  but  prominent  outside 
workers  have  not  been  forgotten,  as  is  evidenced 
by  Nansen  Island  and  Neumayer  Channel.  Each 
officer  was  given  the  privilege  of  bestowing  some 
names.  Hence  two  islands  which  fell  to  my  lot  are 
named  after  the  city  of  my  home  and  the  first 
mayor  of  Greater  New  York — Brooklyn  and  Van 
Wyck  Islands. 

After  passing  out  of  the  strait  into  the  open 
Pacific,  we  strove  to  follow  the  mainland  southward, 
but  the  pack-ice  forced  us  away.  Late  in  February 
we  entered  the  main  body  of  the  sea-ice,  intending 

xii 


INTRODUCTION 

to  push  southward  and  westward.  After  penetrating 
ninety  miles  we  found  ourselves  firmly  beset.  Un- 
able to  extricate  the  ship,  we  drifted  with  the  ice  to 
and  fro,  but  generally  west,  for  thirteen  long  months. 
During  the  early  part  of  the  long  polar  night  Lieu- 
tenant Danco  died.  Except  for  the  depression  of 
this  melancholy  bereavement,  the  health  of  the 
members  of  the  expedition  was  fairly  good ;  but  the 
seventy  days  of  continued  darkness  weighed  heavily 
upon  us.  The  scientific  work  was  prosecuted 
throughout  the  year  of  the  drift.  Each  department 
has  reason  to  feel  proud  of  its  records.  But  all 
were  happy  when,  on  March  14,  1899,  we  were 
released  from  the  icy  fetters  which  had  held  us 
so  long. 

We  left  the  pack  from  longitude  103°  west  of 
Greenwich,  and  latitude  70°  45'  south.  We  had  thus 
drifted  from  about  85°  to  103°  of  west  longitude  and 
between  70°  and  72°  south  of  latitude.  In  March 
and  April  we  drifted  westerly  to  longitude  92°  25', 
where  we  were  on  April  25th.  From  May  to  Octo- 
ber we  drifted  back  again  to  a  place  near  our  start- 
ing point.  From  November  to  the  time  we  left  the 
ice  we  drifted  rapidly  westward.  The  winter  drift 
then  is  eastward,  the  summer  drift  is  westward,  and 
this  is  also  the  direction  of  the  prevailing  winds. 
Our  farthest  south  was  on  May  31st,  latitude  71^ 
36^  ^"  south,  longitude  ^j^  40'  west.  It  would 
not  at  any  time  have  been  possible  to  push  farther 
poleward  in  our  position.  The  various  soundings 
which  we  took  prove  the  existence  of  a  sea  where 
there  was  previously  thought  to  be  land.     Through 

xiii 


INTRODUCTION 

these  soundings  also  we  have  discovered  a  sub- 
marine bank  comparable  to  the  bank  off  the  coast  of 
Newfoundland.  The  excellent  series  of  magnetic  ob- 
servations by  M.  Lecointe  indicate  the  magnetic 
pole  to  be  about  two  hundred  miles  east  of  its 
present  assigned  position.  The  hourly  meteoro- 
logical observations,  under  the  direction  of  M. 
Arctowski,  are  of  priceless  value  to  students  of 
weather.  The  painstaking  zoological  work  by  M. 
Racovitza,  and  the  numerous  other  observations 
and  studies  of  antarctic  life  and  phenomena,  are  of  a 
like  value.  As  an  American  I  can  with  due  modesty 
say  that  the  work  of  this,  the  Belgian  Antarctic  Ex- 
pedition, will  form  the  stepping-stone  to  future  ant- 
arctic exploration. 

In  the  following  pages  I  have  not  attempted  to 
elaborate  on  our  experiences  and  observations.  This 
I  leave  for  a  future  work.  My  aim  has  been  to 
select  from  my  diary  and  notes  such  data  as  might 
prove  of  interest  to  the  general  reader.  In  my  de- 
sire to  condense  this  story  into  a  single  volume  I 
have  omitted  much  of  the  daily  routine  of  life. 
I  have  also  omitted  a  discussion  of  technical  topics. 
There  is  no  pretence  made  by  me  that  this  book 
contains  all  of  the  scientific  data  of  the  expedition. 
The  observations,  descriptions  of  specimens,  and 
scientific  deductions  will  be  published  in  other  chan- 
nels. The  Belgian  Government  has  liberally  set 
aside  a  sum  sufficient  to  publish  in  proper  form  the 
scientific  records,  and  a  commission  is  at  present 
occupied  in  making  a  preliminary  study  of  the  ms,- 
terial  with  this  end  in  view. 

xiv 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 
ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 


THROUGH  THE 
FIRST  ANTARCTIC    NIGHT 


CHAPTER  I 

IN  AND  ABOUT  RIO  DE  JANEIRO 

Rio  de  Janeiro,  October  30,  1897. 
T  last  I  am  on  the  way  to  the  land 
which  has  been  the  dream  of  my 
life,  —  "  the  mysterious  antarctic." 
I  have  talked  of  this  journey  of 
^exploration  so  long,  have  wished 
for  it  so  persistently,  that  now,  when 
my  one  foremost  ambition  seems  on  the 
verge  of  a  realisation,  I  can  hardly  as- 
sure myself  that  I  am  not  on  the  road 
to  another  of  many  disappointments. 
In  three  weeks  one  half  of  the  distance  in  an  air 
line  from  New  York  to  the  south  pole  was  trav- 
ersed, and  here  on  the  lower  edge  of  the  tropics 
I  have  waited  for  the  arrival  of  the  ship  wifh  the 
company  of  Belgian  explorers  with  whom  the  jour- 
ney to  the  antarctic,  now  just  begun,  is  to  be  made. 
On  my  arrival  at  Rio  de  Janeiro  the  Belgian 
Legation  looked  after  my  comforts,  and  the  Minister, 
Count  van  den  Steen,  offered  me  the  hospitality  of 
his  home  at  P^tropolis. 

3 


THE  CROWS  NEST 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

After  a  fortnight  of  dreamy  tropical  life,  a  tele- 
gram announced  the  arrival  of  the  expedition  ship, 
the  Belgica,  in  the  Rio  harbour.  We  took  the 
early  morning  train  and  slowly  descended  the  two 
thousand  feet  along  several  valleys,  winding  around 
various  hills,  down  and  down  on  the  curious  cog- 
wheel railroad,  until  we  reached  the  head  of  the  bay. 
Here  an  old-style  side-wheel  steamer  carried  us  to 
Rio  de  Janeiro.  On  the  pier  a  delegation  appointed 
by  the  Belgian  colony  of  Rio  met  us  with  a  tug,  in 
which  we  were  carried  to  the  Belgica. 

There  was  nothing  about  the  Belgica  to  attract 
unusual  attention  from  a  distance.  She  was  rather 
odd  in  shape  and  colour,  but  Rio  harbour  is  full  of 
weird-looking  crafts.  We  boarded  the  Belgica  at 
about  1 1  o'clock.  It  was  a  scorching  morning,  and 
as  we  ascended  the  sea  ladder  a  cloud  of  hot  vapour 
rose  above  us  from  the  moistened  decks.  The  Cap- 
tain, Lecointe,  was  at  the  gangway  and  greeted 
each  visitor  as  the  Minister  introduced  us.  Behind 
him  on  deck  stood  Commandant  de  Gerlache,  at 
his  side  the  officers  and  scientific  staff,  while  the  crew 
was  stationed  on  the  port  side  of  the  quarter  deck. 

To  me  this  was  a  moment  of  special  interest. 
Here  for  the  first  time  I  met  face  to  face  the  party 
of  total  strangers,  the  members  of  the  Belgian  Ant- 
arctic Expedition,  with  whom  I  am  to  remain  as  com- 
panion and  co-worker  for  a  period  of  months,  per- 
haps years.  I  was  greeted  in  a  strange  tongue  — 
French — not  a  word  of  which  I  understood.  One 
after  another  came  to  me  asking  questions,  but  I 
could  only  look  askance  at  them.     After  a  while  I 

4 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

learned  that  the  Commandant  could  speak  English 
and  all  of  the  scientific  staff  could  speak  German, 
so  we  began  to  exchange  ideas  in  tongues  familiar 
to  me. 

My  first  impression  of  the  officers  and  crew  was 
— as  it  is  to-day — decidedly  favorable.  Every  one 
seemed  a  picture  of  health,  full  of  youthful  vigour,  and 
jolly  good  fellowship.  The  Belgica  appeared  small, 
but  she  seemed  well  adapted  to  the  prospective  work, 
and  above  all,  she  was  filled  brim  full  with  good  food, 
— such  delicacies  as  only  a  Belgian  could  select.  I 
am  sure  as  we  penetrate  the  white  antarctic  she 
will  seem  large  enough ;  she  will  afford  us  a  safe 
home,  and  many,  very  many,  comforts,  as  comforts 
go  in  the  polar  regions. 

The  Belgica  left  Ostend,  Belgium,  on  August  24, 
1897,  and  reached  Madeira  September  13.  From 
here,  after  an  adjustment  of  the  instruments  and  some 
scientific  observations,  lasting  three  days,  she  sailed 
for  Rio  de  Janeiro  ;  but  Rio  was  not  reached  until  late 
in  the  afternoon  of  October  22.  The  voyage  was 
made  against  a  series  of  adverse  winds  and  calms, 
making  it  necessary  to  steam  a  part  of  the  time. 
Excepting  a  few  cases  of  seasickness  the  party  en- 
joyed excellent  health  while  crossing  the  tropics. 

The  general  plan  of  the  expedition  was  now  for 
the  first  time  outlined  to  me  by  Commandant  de  Ger- 
lache.  Up  to  the  present  all  my  communications  had 
been  by  cable,  and  necessarily  brief,  but  now  I  was 
able  to  elicit  from  the  hardworked  projector  the  pros- 
pective plan  of  our  campaign.  The  Belgica  will  start 
from  here,  after  the  magnetic  instruments  are  ad- 

5 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

justed,  for  Montevideo,  where  she  will  stop  perhaps 
two  days.  From  Montevideo  we  will  proceed  to 
Punta  Arenas,  Chile,  in  the  Strait  of  Magellan. 

At  Punta  Arenas  we  shall  make  some  scientific 
observations  and  collections,  stopping  perhaps  eight 
days.  And  then,  after  coaling  and  restocking  our 
provision  supply,  we  shall  sail  for  the  South  Shet- 
land Islands,  thence  to  Grahamland,  and  southwest- 
ward  along  its  border  to  the  limit  of  navigation.  If 
time  and  ice  conditions  will  permit  we  shall  first  sail 
along  the  eastern  shore  of  Grahamland  and  south 
into  Weddel  Sea.  But  this  journey,  tempting  as  it 
seems,  is  now  rather  doubtful,  owing  to  the  short 
time  at  our  command.  From  this  western  terminus 
of  Grahamland  we  shall  try  to  map  the  coast  to 
Alexanderland  and  beyond  as  far  as  possible,  then 
we  are  to  press  southward  and  westward  to  Vic- 
torialand.  Deep  sea  soundings  and  dredgings  will 
be  taken  wherever  the  opportunity  presents.  Sys- 
tematic, magnetic,  and  meteorological  observations 
are  to  be  made,  and  large  zoological  collections  are 
expected.  In  a  general  way  it  is  the  aim  of  the 
expedition  to  make  a  thorough  scientific  survey  of 
the  regions  traversed.  The  commander  reserves 
the  right  to  alter  any  or  all  plans  to  suit  unex- 
pected conditions  as  we  meet  them. 

In  the  afternoon  the  Minister,  Count  van  den 
Steen,  took  Commandant  de  Gerlache  and  most  of 
the  scientific  staff  ashore  to  begin  the  first  of  a  long 
series  of  presentations  and  introductions  to  the  con- 
genial Brazilian  officials.  We  were  first  presented 
to  the  chief  of  customs  and  the  Minister  of  marine 

6 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

affairs,  from  whom  we  derived  the  twofold  pleasure 
of  being  warmly  greeted  and  freed  of  harbour  dues, 
custom  annoyances,  and  other  troublesome  local 
regulations. 

It  was  to  me  a  source  of  never-ceasing  interest  to 
note  the  translations  of  the  various  questions  asked. 
This  portrayed  clearly  the  Brazilian  notion  of  a  po- 
lar expedition.  The  ideas  proved  to  be  so  tropi- 
cal that  I  must  risk  a  breach  of  etiquette  and  quote 
enough  to  show  Brazilian  versions  of  polar  work. 
We  were  constantly  asked,  ''  Have  you  a  smoking- 
room  and  much  tobacco?"  '' Of  course  you  have 
lots  of  wine  and  other  nice  drinks,  but  have  you 
plenty  of  good  things  to  eat?  You  must  take 
some  Brazilian  coffee."  Others  would  put  to  us 
questions  about  our  provision  for  pleasure,  music, 
games,  and  pastimes  in  general,  but  I  do  not  re- 
member having  been  asked  even  once  about  the 
serious  scientific  work  of  the  expedition.  One 
broad-minded  and  apparently  intelligent  fellow,  well 
on  in  the  winter  of  life — a  member  of  the  Cabinet, 
asked  the  usual  questions  about  wines,  cigars,  and 
personal  comforts,  and  then,  having  heard  of  Mrs. 
Peary's  experience  in  the  North,  he  asked  if  we  had 
any  women  among  us?  On  being  answered  with  a 
rather  sharp  and  quick  **  no  !  "  he  remarked  :  "  Then, 
I  don't  want  to  go  along." 

This  explains  the  lack  of  interest  of  South  Amer- 
icans in  anything  polar.  So  long  as  beautiful  women, 
good  wines,  fine  cigars,  and  delicate  foods  are  not 
found  at  the  south  pole,  Latin  Americans  will  prob- 
ably not  aspire  to  reach  it. 

7 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

The  magnetic  instruments  were  taken  to  the  local 
observatory  for  adjustment  and  comparison.  To  do 
this  properly  required  about  a  week,  hence  arrange- 
ments were  made  for  various  receptions,  tours  of 
exploration,  of  pleasure,  and  what  not.  The  zoolo- 
gist, Mr.  Racovitza,  learning  that  he  could  take  a 
fast  steamer  and  reach  Punta  Arenas  about  a  fort- 
night in  advance  of  the  expedition,  at  once  made  ar- 
rangements to  leave  us.  This  will  afford  him  much 
additional  and  valuable  time  to  make  collections  and 
observations  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  the  Strait 
of  Magellan. 

We  began  the  week  on  Monday  by  the  Presiden- 
tial reception.  The  Belgian  Minister,  Count  van  den 
Steen,  had  arranged  the  details  and  according  to  his 
instructions  we  assembled  at  the  office  of  Consul 
Laurys  shortly  after  noon.  From  here  we  em- 
barked in  coaches  drawn  by  small  but  handsome 
mules.  We  were  hurried  through  narrow  streets, 
along  an  endless  number  of  low  houses,  plastered 
outside  and  in.  The  doors  and  windows  were  full 
of  men,  women  and  children,  scantily  dressed  but  ill 
at  ease,  all  doing  nothing  in  various  ways. 

In  a  half  hour  we  reached  the  White  House,  an 
imposing  and  substantial  building  constructed  from 
the  local  schist  which  everywhere  underlies  the  city. 
Led  by  Count  van  den  Steen  we  entered,  ascended 
to  the  third  floor,  and  were  marshaled  to  the  Presi- 
dent's reception  room  with  very  little  ceremony. 
The  room  was  handsomely  decorated  by  wall  paint- 
ings, and  fresco  decorations  probably  of  Italian  de- 
sign, while  the  floors  were  of  beautiful  inlaid  wood, 

8 


ANTARCTIC   NIGHT 

also  of  a  foreign  manufacture.  There  were  no  car- 
pets, but  little  furniture,  and  the  mantels  were  covered 
by  artificial  flowers  and  plants. 

In  a  short  time  the  President,  Senor  Trudente 
de  Moreas  Barros,  entered.  We  were  presented 
separately,  after  which  the  Minister  made  a  short 
address  in  French  to  which  the  President  replied  in 
a  few  words,  and  then  grasping  our  hands  he  offered 
a  cheerful  greeting  to  each  member  of  the  expedi- 
tion. 

The  Belgian  colony  had  long  planned  a  feast  for 
the  expedition,  and  this  was  to  be  the  grand  event 
at  Rio,  to  which  we  looked  for  real  joy  and  lasting 
comfort.  The  time  had  been  set  for  the  evening  of 
the  25th,  at  the  Restaurant  Petropolis,  on  Rue  de 
Ovidor.  We  assembled  at  7  o'clock;  there  were 
about  100  people  present,  representing  the  male 
members  of  the  Colony,  the  officers  and  scientific 
staff  of  the  expedition,  and  a  few  newspaper  editors. 

The  room  was  large  and  airy ;  electric  fans  were 
in  position,  but  the  air  was  cool  enough  without 
their  use.  The  walls  were  decorated  with  flags, 
and  the  tables  with  flowers  and  fruits.  The  bill  of 
fare  was  Belgian — a  few  local  additions  to  the  very 
best  that  could  be  imported  from  Belgium.  This,  I 
am  sure,  is  sufficient  said  of  a  very  delightful  collec- 
tion of  rare  foods  and  good  drinks.  There  was 
much  enthusiastic  speech-making  and  toasting  in 
French,  Portuguese,  and  Italian ;  presumably  com- 
plimentary to  Brazil,  Belgium  and  the  expedition, 
but  I  did  not  understand  it.  The  spirit  of  hilarity, 
however,  was  in  the  air  and,  although  I  was  a  for- 

9 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

eigner  among  strangers  whose  language  was  un- 
known to  me,  I  cannot  remember  having  enjoyed  a 
banquet  at  home  better.  We  had  all  been  wined 
and  dined,  separately  and  collectively,  before  and 
after,  but  the  occasion  which  will  always  remain  in 
our  minds  as  the  best  treat  of  all  is  the  Rio  Belgian 
banquet. 

The  day  following,  and  for  the  balance  of  the 
week,  we  visited  the  local  places  of  interest,  ex- 
plored the  city  in  various  ways,  and  were  received 
at  a  special  meeting  of  the  local  Geographical  So- 
ciety. Rio  de  Janeiro  is  a  city  of  perhaps  six  hun- 
dred thousand  inhabitants,  with  about  one  hundred 
thousand  foreigners.  It  is  the  metropolis  of  South 
America,  but  far,  very  far,  behind  Montevideo  and 
Buenos  Aires  in  modern  improvements  and  in  all 
the  present  arts  of  civilization.  It  is  essentially  a 
commercial  city,  a  center  from  which  exports  are 
sent  and  imports  distributed  throughout  Brazil  and 
much  of  South  America. 

A  great  deal  of  money  is  made  here,  but  the  pres- 
ent money  has  fallen  to  about  one  eighth  of  its  actual 
value.  Things  cannot  be  much  longer  prolonged  as 
the  present  money  market  stands,  from  which  it 
follows  that  various  rumors  of  a  national  bankruptcy 
are  current.  A  well  informed  resident  assured  me 
that  a  crisis  would  arrive  before  our  return  from  the 
antarctic. 

Brazil,  in  the  infancy  of  its  republican  form  of  gov- 
ernment, has  very  many  political  difficulties  to  settle. 
There  is  more  political  discussion  to  the  square  mile 
in  Rio  de  Janeiro  to-day  than  to  an  equal  space  on 
any  other  part  of  the  globe  with  which  I  am  familiar. 

lO 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

A  rebellion  has  just  been  subdued  In  a  northern  prov- 
ince, but  from  the  south  comes  fresh  news  of  another 
attempted  secession.  The  several  states  of  Brazil 
seem  to  be  loosely  bound  together  and  before  the 
country  finds  its  true  equilibrium  many  changes  will 
probably  occur. 

As  a  city  Rio  de  Janeiro  has  been  so  well  and  so 
often  described  that  I  shall  only  give  here  the 
briefest  outline  of  a  few  points  of  interest  as  they 
impressed  us.  The  houses  are  all  of  stone  or  brick, 
rarely  more  than  two  stories,  built  on  an  irregular 
hilly  surface,  mostly  facing  the  ever  visible  and 
always  enchanting  inland  sea,  the  harbour.  The 
rear  of  the  city  is  lost  between  the  rising  hills  which 
encircle  the  harbour.  The  streets  are  very  narrow, 
are  paved  with  granite,  and  are  always  alive  with 
people  of  several  colors  and  of  all  nationalities.  The 
business  streets  have  an  air  of  bustle  and  Yankee 
thrift,  but  the  side  streets  are  clothed  in  the  usual 
perpetual  ease  of  the  tropics. 

The  city  is  easily  traversed  by  electric  and  mule 
cars;  even  the  mountains  are  ascended  by  electric 
and  steam  roads,  which  required  great  engineering 
skill  in  construction.  Carriages  and  waggons  are  al- 
most entirely  drawn  by  small  mules.  The  numerous 
sights  and  breathing  places  are  reached  without 
much  trouble  and  very  cheaply,  for  Rio  has  perhaps 
the  cheapest  carfare  of  the  world,  less  than  three 
cents  a  ride.  Rent  is  nearly  as  high  as  in  New 
York  in  the  better  or  healthier  parts  of  the  city; 
wages  are  good,  but  living  in  general  is  expensive. 
Nearly  all  the  foreigners,  however,  consider  it  an 
excellent  business  place.     The  health  of  the  city  is 

II 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

good,  excepting  occasional  epidemics  of  yellow 
fever,  and,  if  it  were  not  for  the  intense  heat  of  sum- 
mer, Rio  would  offer  a  bright  future  for  young,  am- 
bitious Europeans  and  North  Americans. 

It  would  hardly  be  expected  that  poleward-bent 
explorers  would  grow  enthusiastic  about  any  place 
in  the  torrid  zone,  but  Rio  de  Janeiro,  with  all  its 
heat,  has  people  with  warm  hearts,  who  were  to  us 
a  pleasant  inspiration.  It  has  fruits  and  coffee 
which  are  a  joy  to  the  inner  man  ;  it  has  abundant 
natural  resources  which  will  some  day  make  it  a 
great,  a  very  great,  city. 

Saturday  at  2  o'clock  was  set  for  the  time  of 
sailing,  and  although  we  appreciated  the  honors  and 
pleasures  conferred  upon  us  by  the  hospitable  Bel- 
gians and  Brazilians,  the  appointed  time  found  us 
all  eager  to  continue  our  voyage  toward  the  south 
pole.  Many  visitors  were  on  board  at  the  last  mo- 
ment. The  Minister,  with  his  fatherly  interest  in  the 
expedition,  the  Belgian  committee,  representatives 
of  the  Rio  Geographical  Society,  and  various  other 
distinguished  visitors  were  there  to  bid  us  au 
revoir  and  bon  voyage.  Among  the  visitors  were 
a  couple  of  young  ladies  who  received  an  un- 
usual share  of  warm  attention  from  the  prospective 
frigid  explorers.  A  desire  to  kidnap  them  as  a  di- 
version to  break  the  long  monotony  of  the  journey 
was  frequently  expressed  and  no  doubt  deeply  felt 
by  at  least  one  lonely  bachelor.  The  last  visitor 
was  a  young  Brazilian  in  a  gaudy  uniform,  who 
came  by  a  special  Government  launch  as  a  repre- 
sentative of  the  President.  His  particular  mission 
was  to  offer  us  the  President's  compliments  and  his 

12 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

wishes  for  a  good,  successful  voyage.  This  we  ap- 
preciated as  a  delightful  bit  of  thoughtfulness  on  the 
part  of  President  Barros. 

On  board  the  Belgica  everything  was  bustle  and 
haste.  Provisions  were  coming,  new  articles  of 
equipment  were  being  loaded  and  stored  away, 
visitors  were  going  to  and  fro  examining  our  curious 
instruments  and  the  general  outfit.  Tugs  were  all 
around  the  craft  and  one,  with  several  photogra- 
phers, kept  spinning  around,  snapping  at  the  center 
of  curiosity  from  every  side.  At  three  o'clock  the 
Commandant  gave  the  order  to  start,  and  the  entire 
mass  moved  with  us.  The  visitors  remained  on 
deck,  and  the  tugs  followed. 

The  commercial  part  of  the  harbour,  with  its 
steaming  heat  and  teeming  mass  of  conglomerate 
humanity,  soon  fell  behind  more  interesting  points. 
Several  foreign  cruisers  were  in  the  harbour  among 
them  our  Cincinnati^  and  these  kept  us  busy  re- 
plying to  salutations  and  cheers.  As  we  passed  the 
old  battered  fort  of  S.  Joao  we  rather  expected  a 
series  of  salutes,  but  instead  a  large  band  appeared 
on  a  low  crown  of  torn  cliffs  playing  lively  airs. 
Now  and  then  the  musicians  would  stop  and  fill  the 
atmosphere  with  quaint  cheers,  all  of  which  pleased 
us  far  better  than  a  display  of  powder. 

As  we  advanced,  a  rather  strong  wind  ruffled  up 
an  uncomfortable  sea,  and  as  we  approached  the 
narrows,  which  are  guarded  by  two  ancient  looking 
forts,  it  was  deemed  best  to  part  with  our  visitors. 
The  Brazilian  men  hugged  and  kissed  us,  as  is  their 
custom — the  men  only,  not  the  ladies.  Our  good 
friends  of  the  Belgian  Colony  offered  many  cordial 

13 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

greetings,  and  as  the  tugs  withdrew  from  us,  the  oft- 
repeated  au  revoir  and  bon  voyage  came  with  every 
leap  of  the  sea. 

Our  progress  against  the  incoming  wind  and  sea 
was  very  slow,  but  this  gave  us  an  excellent  oppor- 
tunity to  take  a  long  parting  view  of  the  beautiful 
Bay  of  Rio  de  Janeiro,  with  all  its  indescribable 
splendour.  The  sun  was  low,  close  to  the  crests  of  a 
ridge  of  mountain  peaks.  We  were  steaming  out  of 
the  mouth  of  the  bay,  a  harbour  which  is  said  to  be 
large  enough  to  afford  room  for  all  the  naval  fleets 
of  the  world.  On  every  side  were  mountains  rising 
abruptly  from  the  waving  expanse  of  blue  —  moun 
tains  with  cliffs  and  steep  slopes,  many  apparently 
perpendicular,  all  with  sides  nearly  covered  by  a 
thick  dark  green  verdure.  Only  the  loftiest  peaks 
were  bald  and  even  these  had  a  few  weather-worn 
trees  to  add  colour  and  life. 

As  we  looked  over  the  stern  of  the  Belgica,  much 
of  the  city  was  still  in  view.  The  low,  irregular 
houses,  with  tiled  roofs  and  sides  washed  with  lime 
in  various  bright  shades  of  red,  white  and  blue,  were 
unique  and  attractive.  They  will  always  remain  in 
our  minds  as  a  pleasing  reminder  of  Brazilian  good 
wishes.  Before  the  city  and  behind  it  were  the 
perennial  midsummer  waters,  spotted  with  vessels  of 
various  nations,  beset  by  a  score  of  emerald  isles 
and  fringed  by  as  many  fascinating  bays.  It  is, 
however,  the  crude,  rugged  majesty, —  the  rare  gran- 
deur of  the  mountain  peaks  around  the  enchanting 
harbour  which  give  it  ever  fresh  and  effervescent 
glory. 

14 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

Beginning  at  the  left  and  close  to  the  stern  of  the 
Belgica,  was  a  bold  peak  of  solid  rock,  which  from  its 
fancied  resemblance  to  a  lump  of  sugar,  is  called 
Pdo  de  Assucar.  A  little  farther  on  the  eye  is 
stopped  by  the  famous  Corcovado,  a  huge  needle  of 
granite,  its  base  washed  by  the  blue  tropical  waters, 
its  apex,  three  thousand  feet  above,  piercing  soft, 
pearly  vapours,  and  its  sides  painted  by  the  hand  of 
nature  in  various  shades  of  green.  Next  upon  the 
horizon  was  outlined  the  strange  freak  of  nature,  the 
Bicodo  do  Papagaio,  or  Parrot's  Beak.  A  bit  of  land- 
scape, more  distant  and  less  startling,  but  still  very 
alluring,  is  next  in  line — the  interfolding  rock  config- 
urations of  Gavea.  Then  several  other  sky-scrap- 
ing mountains,  and  the  enraptured  vision  ends  upon 
the  whitened  crown  of  fair  Santa  Thereza. 

Along  the  head  of  the  bay,  ever  veiled  by  a  blue 
haze,  are  the  Organ  Mountains,  so  named  because 
the  various  cones  and  serrated  peaks  bear  a  fan- 
cied resemblance  to  the  pipes  of  an  organ.  Be- 
yond these,  but  out  of  vision,  is  Petropolis,  the 
new  capital  of  Brazil,  and  the  summer  home  for 
Rio's  wealthy  and  foreign  residents.  To  the  right 
are  lesser  mountains,  separated  by  deep  bays  and 
broad,  fertile  valleys.  The  beds  of  these  are  clothed 
with  banana,  mango,  pineapple,  and  other  fruit- 
bearing  trees  and  plants.  The  scene  as  a  whole  is 
a  feast  to  the  eyes  and  a  nursery  to  the  mind. 

But  we  must  be  off  to  less  fertile  lands — on  to  the 
icy  south,  stopping  only  at  Montevideo  and  the 
Strait  of  Magellan  before  we  attack  the  virgin  ice 
south  of  Cape  Horn. 

15 


CHAPTER  II 

FROM   RIO   DE  JANEIRO   TO   MONTEVIDEO 

Montevideo,  November  13,  1897. 

The  Belgica  left  Rio  October  30,  1897.  She 
steamed  out  of  the  harbour  amid  an  uproar  of  sal- 
utations and  accompanied  by  many  of  the  friends 
of  the  expedition  to  the  entrance  of  the  bay.  Here 
the  little  party  of  well-wishers  gathered  around 
Count  Van  den  Steen  and  offered  us  a  final  bon 
voyage — a  scene  and  a  sentiment  which  followed  us 
far  into  the  polar  night.  The  sun  was  hanging  low 
over  the  blue  outline  of  the  Organ  Mountains,  and 
the  darkness  of  the  rapidly  approaching  tropical 
night  was  already  on  the  lowlands,  which  are  here 
exposed  to  receive  the  warm  humidity  of  the  Atlan- 
tic. The  wind  was  steadily  increasing  from  the 
east,  bringing  in  a  heavy  sea  and  premonitions  of 
an  uncomfortable  night.  The  two  battered  forts 
which  guard  the  entrance  were  soon  passed,  and 
we  laid  our  course  south-westwardly  along  the  Bra- 
zilian coast,  with  a  fair  wind  and  a  favourable  cur- 
rent. Darkness,  torrid  blackness,  settled  down  over 
us  with  a  rapidity  which  I  had  not  before  noted. 
The  wind  increased  and  the  •  sea  rose  higher  and 

16 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

higher,  bringing  with  it  Neptune  to  salute  the  too 
hilarious  victims  of  the  expedition  at  Rio. 

The  next  morning  no  land  was  in  sight,  but  the 
weather  was  delightfully  clear  with  a  fair  breeze  and 
an  easy  sea,  a  happy  condition  which  followed  us 
several  days.  We  have  now  passed  the  tropic  of 
Capricorn,  are  out  of  the  torrid  zone,  and  well  on 
our  path  across  the  south  temperate  zone  toward 
the  bottom  of  the  globe.  The  air  is  more  stimulat- 
ing, the  winds  fresh  and  bracing,  more  in  accord 
with  our  polar  longings,  and  altogether  we  begin 
to  feel  our  natural  vigours  and  ambitions  which  the 
burning  heat  farther  north  had  withered. 

From  Madeira  to  Rio  it  had  been  found  impossi- 
ble to  sleep  in  the  bunks  because  of  the  stifling 
heat.  Hammocks  were  accordingly  swung  amid- 
ships, in  which  some  sleep  was  possible  for  the  occu- 
pants of  the  cabins,  while  those  of  the  forecastle 
stored  themselves  on  the  deck  in  almost  any  posi- 
tion offering  a  breeze  and  a  protection  from  being 
washed  overboard.  These  restful  open  air  positions 
offer  a  splendid  opportunity  during  the  sleepless 
hours  to  study  and  admire  the  beauty  and  strange- 
ness of  the  southern  sky.  From  the  time  when  we 
crossed  the  equator  to  our  present  position  we  have 
been  intensely  interested  in  the  new  constellations 
which  have  glided  over  the  southern  horizon,  while 
in  the  north  we  have  been  watching,  with  some 
regret,  the  sinking  and  disappearance  of  the  stars 
and  groups  with  which  we  have  been  familiar  from 
the  time  of  our  infancy.  This  vanishing  of  the  Pole 
Star,    and    the   many   old    friends   in    the   heavens 

17 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

brings  to  us  a  vivid  impression  of  the  vast  distance 
which  we  have  traversed  from  our  native  lands. 
The  new  firmament  has  many  charms,  but  it  takes 
time  to  admire  its  complex  splendour.  The  grouping 
of  the  large  stars,  the  scattered  nebulae  rivalling  in 
lustre  the  Milky  Way,  and  the  unfilled  spaces,  re- 
markable for  their  extreme  darkness,  give  the  south- 
ern heavens  a  peculiar  aspect.  With  this  dome  of 
tropical  blue  relieved  by  the  new  heavenly  bodies 
above,  and  with  a  breakneck  pitching  and  tossing 
at  every  plunge  of  the  vessel,  one  is  more  apt  to  fall 
into  an  admiration  of  Nature  than  into  a  profound 
sleep.  But  this  easy  life  on  deck  has  also  its  draw- 
backs at  times  when  one's  calm,  dreamy  philosophy 
is  suddenly  and  rudely  interrupted.  Jack  runs  across 
the  deck  and  presently  stumbles  in  a  heap  over 
some  sleeper  when  a  series  of  grunts  and  something 
worse  fills  the  night  air  with  another  spirit. 

On  November  fourth,  for  a  short  time,  the  low 
shore-line  of  the  Island  of  Santo  Catherina  was  dimly 
visible  under  a  blue  mist  in  the  west.  At  about  this 
time  we  also  saw  the  first  Cape  pigeons,  stormy 
petrels,  and  albatrosses,  and  a  few  days  later  when 
there  was  no  land  in  view  an  off-shore  wind  brought 
us  some  forms  of  land  life.  Among  these  were  but- 
terflies, moths,  various  birds  with  beautiful  plumage, 
and  some  troublesome  flies.  We  met  only  one  voy- 
ager on  this  lonely  course,  a  Brazilian  coaster.  She 
was  built  after  a  model  of  the  last  century,  but, 
having  every  rag  set  which  could  draw,  she  came 
through  the  rolling  blue  waters  with  a  grace  and 
picturesqueness  that  would  do  justice  to  a  modern 

i8 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

yacht.  We  enjoyed  the  sight  immensely  as  she 
came  towards  us,  ploughing  through  hills  of  foam, 
her  blunt  prow  buried  in  white  spray,  her  huge  square 
stern  rising  and  falling  nimbly  out  of  one  trough 
into  another.  It  was  as  if  one  of  the  explorers  who 
had  gone  before  us,  a  Drake  or  an  Anson,  who  were 
at  once  pirates  and  explorers,  had  suddenly  dropped 
in  our  path  to  examine  the  men  and  the  methods  of 
less  ambitious  followers. 

On  the  evening  of  the  seventh  we  were  fascinated 
by  a  strikingly  beautiful  sunset — the  first  worthy  of 
note  since  the  Belgica  left  Antwerp  and  certainly 
the  most  remarkable  which  I  had  observed  since 
leaving  New  York.  The  phenomena  was  most 
charming  in  colour  when  the  sun  was  about  to  sink 
behind  the  blue  outline  of  Uruguay  on  our  western 
horizon.  The  sea  was  branded  by  streams  and 
bands  and  spots  of  fire  which,  with  the  easy  un- 
dulation of  the  surface,  gave  it  the  appearance  of 
active  flames.  The  sun  itself  was  descending  behind 
a  faint  purple  zone  of  mist.  Its  disc  seemed  out  of 
all  proportion  to  its  usual  size  and  there  was  some- 
thing sublimely  beautiful  in  the  loneliness  of  its  de- 
scent. All  the  sky  above  it,  and  far  to  the  south 
and  north  was  a  vivid  crimson  in  zigzag  streamers, 
while  over  our  heads  the  dome  was  an  exquisite 
tint  of  green,  which  melted  in  the  east  into  a  dark 
purple  blue.  Shortly  after  the  heavenly  glow  of 
the  sunset  had  vanished,  the  sky  began  to  assume 
quite  another  aspect.  A  gloomy  range  of  cumulus 
clouds  rose  in  the  northwest,  and  in  a  few  hours  had 
advanced  so  far  as  to  project  nearly  over  our  heads. 

19 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

The  scene  was  made  particularly  strange  by  the 
even  steely  colour  of  the  rest  of  the  sky.  It  was 
ruled  with  a  line,  here  and  there  ragged,  but  for  the 
most  part  singularly  homogeneous  from  the  confines 
of  the  north-eastern  mass  of  horizon.  All  the  cen- 
tral portion  of  this  vast  surface  of  cloud  was  of  a 
deep  leaden  hue,  while  its  edges  were  marked  by 
rapidly  changing  lines  of  carbon  and  luminous  grey. 
By  a  deception  of  the  eye  the  entire  mass  appeared 
convex,  and  it  looked  as  wild  as  any  phenomena  of 
Nature  I  ever  saw.  At  frequent  intervals  a  sharp 
shower  of  arrowy  lightning  whizzed  along  its  lowest 
fringe,  illuminating  the  decks  and  the  sea  with  a 
weird  blue  light.  The  lightning  had  the  remark- 
able peculiarity  of  not  being  accompanied  by  thun- 
der, nor  was  it  followed  by  rain. 

Yesterday  at  noon  the  high  ridge  of  mountains 
in  the  eastern  part  of  the  province  of  Rio  Grande  do 
Sul  were  feebly  discernible  under  the  western  hori- 
zon. This  is  the  most  southern  province,  the 
most  industrious,  and  certainly  the  most  promising 
part  of  Brazil.  It  is  composed  almost  entirely  of 
Germans,  upon  whom  the  unfair  yoke  of  the  Rio 
Janeiro  government  fits  badly.  They  are  at  present 
engaged  in  a  revolution  for  freedom  and  indepen- 
dence. To-day  we  have  the  low  sandy  dunes  of  the 
coast  of  Uruguay  on  our  port  side,  and  through  the 
night  we  made  little  progress  against  the  increas- 
ing southerly  wind  which  followed  the  peculiar  sky 
effects.  At  6  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  the  eighth, 
we  were  off  Castillo  Island.  Here  the  wind  in- 
creased with  such  fury  that  we  began  to  look  about 
for  a  harbour. 

20 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

In  a  few  hours  we  were  off  Cape  Polonio,  but  a 
farther  progress  into  the  mouth  of  the  River  Plata 
against  the  wind  was  impossible.  The  bark  was 
turned  landward  for  a  little  cove  at  the  neck  of  Cape 
Polonio  which  seemed  somewhat  sheltered  by  the 
off-lying  seal  rocks.  To  reach  this  anchorage,  how- 
ever, the  bark  made  difficult  work  of  it.  She  rose 
and  tumbled  over  the  ugly  land  swells  like  a  waggon 
over  a  rocky  road.  Her  feeble  engines  were 
pressed  to  their  greatest  force,  which  heated  the 
spaces  above  the  fireplace  to  such  an  extent  as  to 
ignite  the  woodwork,  and  thus  to  the  anxiety  of  the 
storm  was  added  the  excitement  of  a  fire. 

The  fire  was  soon  extinguished,  and  at  noon  we 
dropped  anchor  in  a  little  harbour  where  the  main 
force  of  the  wind  did  not  reach  us,  but  the  sea  con- 
tinued to  rise  and  fall  with  a  sickening  suddenness. 
Here  we  rode  out  the  storm,  which  continued  until 
about  noon  of  the  next  day.  The  falling  of  the 
temperature,  caused  by  the  decreasing  latitude  and 
especially  by  this  storm,  is  daily  more  noticeable. 
Already  the  cold  south  temperate  winds  have  com- 
pelled us  to  abandon  the  restful  open  air  berths  in 
the  hammocks  and  driven  us  into  the  stuffy  state- 
rooms, where  every  precaution  has  been  taken  to 
prevent  the  escape  of  heat  in  the  icy  south.  Dur- 
ing the  afternoon  and  night,  while  the  ship  was  bow- 
ing to  the  wind  and  violently  pulling  at  her  chains, 
we  examined  the  character  of  our  surroundings. 
From  our  position  the  land  presented  about  as  bar- 
ren and  lifeless  an  aspect  as  any  region  I  ever  saw. 
On  closer  inspection  we  became  interested  in  the 
mere  bleakness,  and  little  by  little  we  found  a  fascina- 

21 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

tion  in  the  lifeless  sterility  with  which  we  were  first 
impressed.  The  torrents  of  wind  moved  the  sand-like 
snow,  and  even  deposited  it  in  huge  drifts,  giving 
the  whole  surface  a  wavy,  undulating  appearance. 
In  the  interior  a  few  ranges  of  low  hills  were  dis- 
cernible ;  but  their  surfaces  were  such  that  the  shape 
could  not  be  easily  separated  from  the  vast  wavy 
plain  along  the  coast.  Cape  Castillo  is  easily  dis- 
tinguished from  the  other  sandy  points  by  a  white 
round  sand  hill,  one  hundred  and  eighty-four  feet 
high,  to  which  the  land  gradually  rises  from  the 
Cape  southward.  This  is  Mount  Buena  Vista,  and 
its  pecuHar  mammary  form,  with  its  well  defined 
white  nipple  and  rounded  sides  marked  by  dots  of 
cactus  plants, —  these  peculiarities,  with  the  isolated 
position,  give  the  eminence  an  impressiveness  and  a 
picturesqueness  quite  in  accord  with  its  important 
geographical  position. 

Mount  Buena  Vista  marks  the  entrance  from  the 
north  into  one  of  the  largest  and,  for  the  future,  one 
of  the  most  important  rivers  of  the  world,  the  Rio  de 
la  Plata.  The  river  was  discovered  in  1 5 1 5  by  Juan 
Diaz  de  Solis,  and  seems  to  have  been  named  by 
Sebastian  Cabot  in  1520.  The  name  (meaning 
**  river  of  silver  ")  was  not  given  it  because  of  its  fan- 
cied resemblance  to  silver-plate,  for  in  reality  its 
surface  is  always  ruffled,  and  its  colour  and  consist- 
ency would  be  better  described  by  the  *'  river  of 
mud ;  "  but  the  great  amount  of  actual  silver  ore 
which  was  taken  from  the  Indians  along  this 
river,  and  the  fact  that  it  was  used  as  a  highway 
for  the   transport   of  the  metal   to   the   coast,  are 

22 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

responsible  for  the  poetic  name  of  this  ever  dirty 
stream. 

Though  the  waters  are  not  sparkling,  and  the 
banks  are  not  such  as  to  call  for  an  enthusiastic  de- 
scription, yet  the  Plata  occupies  a  position  unequaled 
among  the  rivers  of  the  world.  It  drains  the  largest 
part  of  South  America  south  of  the  Amazon  basin, 
and  with  its  many  tributaries  reaches  from  the  moun- 
tains of  eastern  Brazil  to  the  Andes,  covering  there- 
fore almost  the  entire  width  of  the  continent  from 
the  Atlantic  to  the  Pacific.  While  its  basin  is  thus 
widely  spread,  the  name  Rio  de  la  Plata  is  limited 
to  the  stream  from  the  junction  of  the  rivers  Parana 
and  Uruguay,  to  the  Atlantic.  It  is  one  hundred 
and  fifty  miles  in  length,  and  about  one  hundred 
and  twenty  miles  wide  at  its  outer  spread.  From 
here  it  rapidly  narrows,  so  that  at  Montevideo  it  is 
but  fifty  miles  wide,  while  at  Buenos  Aires  it  is  only 
twenty,  and  at  the  junction  of  its  principal  head 
waters,  but  four  miles.  Its  peculiar  water  is  gener- 
ally noticeable  far  out  in  the  Atlantic  by  the  change 
in  colour:  from  the  bright  blue  of  the  subtropical 
seas  to  a  dull  green,  and  on  closer  approach  to  a 
dark  brown. 

One  of  the  most  remarkable  facts  in  the  history 
of  American  discovery  is  the  slowness  with  which 
the  world  has  learned  of  the  true  natural  resources 
of  this  region.  The  early  Spaniards  came  here  to 
obtain  from  the  Indians,  either  by  fair  means  or 
otherwise,  such  valuables  as  they  possessed.  Silver 
and  gold  were  thus  secured,  and  this  led  to  the 
more  important  discoveries  of  the  sources  of  these 

23 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

metals,  which  we  now  know  are  so  widely  spread 
over  the  continent.  Little  by  little  the  Spaniards 
settled  among  the  Indians ;  and  then  came  a  time 
when  the  English  descended  upon  the  Spaniards 
and  relieved  them  of  their  treasures.  One  of  the 
first  of  these  British  pirates  was  Sir  Francis  Drake, 
knighted  and  otherwise  honoured  by  Queen  Eliza- 
beth for  his  heartless  cruelty  to,  and  valuable  thefts 
from,  the  Spanish  pioneers. 

Drake's  narrator,  while  writing  pious  words  with 
one  hand  and  stealing  Spanish  silver  with  the  other, 
had  not  much  time  to  make  sharp  observations,  but 
his  notes  are  interesting.  ''Passing  thus,"  says  the 
Reverend  Mr.  Fletcher,  ''in  beholding  the  excellent 
works  of  the  Eternal  God  upon  the  seas  as  if  we  had 
been  in  a  garden  of  pleasure,  April  5,  1578,  we  fell 
in  with  the  coast  of  Brazil,  in  30°  30'  towards  the 
Pole  Antarctic  where  the  land  is  low  near  the  sea, 
but  much  higher  within  the  country,  having  in  depth 
not  above  twelve  fathoms  three  leagues  off  from  the 
shore;  and  being  deceived  by  the  inhabitants 
(Indians),  we  saw  great  and  huge  fires  made  by  them 
in  sandy  places.  After  this,  we  kept  our  course 
sometimes  to  the  seaward,  sometimes  to  the  shore, 
but  always  southward  as  near  as  we  could  till  April 
14th,  in  the  morning,  at  which  we  passed  Cape  St. 
Mary  which  lies  in  35'  near  the  mouth  of  the  River 
Plata  running  within  it,  about  six  or  seven  leagues 
along  the  main,  we  came  to  anchor  in  a  bay  under 
another  Cape  which  our  General  afterwards  called 
Cape  Joy.  (The  present  site  of  Montevideo.)  The 
country  here  about  is  of  a  temperate  and  most  sweet 

24 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

air,  very  fair  and  pleasant  to  behold,  and,  besides 
the  exceeding  fruitfulness  of  the  soil,  it  is  stored 
with  plenty  and  mighty  deer."  A  few  months  later 
the  good  Reverend  wrote  thus:  ''We  lighted  on  a 
Spaniard  who  lay  asleep,  and  had  lying  by  him 
thirteen  bars  of  silver,  weighing  in  all  about  4,000 
Spanish  ducats.  We  freed  him  of  his  change  which, 
otherwise,  might  have  kept  him  working." 

Since  this  time  the  Spaniards  have  slowly  spread 
and  mingled  and  intermarried  with  the  Indians,  and 
the  various  resulting  states  have  secured  the  inde- 
pendence of  the  Castilian  yoke  and  are  now  very 
rapidly  advancing.  But  for  the  first  two  centuries 
progress  was  very  insignificant.  Buenos  Aires,  the 
New  York  of  South  America,  is  here  spreading  on 
the  banks  of  the  silver  river.  Montevideo  and  other 
cities  are  growng  with  a  vigour  similar  to  that  of 
Yankee  towns,  and  if  excellence  of  climate,  fertility 
of  soil,  and  limitless  natural  resources  count  for  any- 
thing, the  gathering  basin  of  the  Rio  de  la  Plata 
will  certainly  soon  become  the  United  States  of  South 
America. 

We  went  ashore  on  November  9th,  and  were  met 
by  a  weather-worn  group  of  men  in  various  quaint 
costumes.  Their  faces  and  their  apparel  did  not 
suggest  the  pleasureable  moments  and  the  warm 
reception  which  fell  to  oiir  lot  later.  But  we  soon 
found  hearts  as  warm  and  minds  as  appreciative  as 
any  that  could  be  discovered  under  silks  and  broad- 
cloth. Cape  Polonio  is  a  port  of  anchorage,  about 
two  miles  southward  of  Mt.  Buena  Vista.  On  it  is  a 
lighthouse  of  gray  masonry,  one  hundred  and  thirty- 

25 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

seven  feet  in  height,  with  three  white  horizontal 
bands.  The  actual  height  of  this  tower  is  not 
great,  but  being  placed  in  a  region  where  the  sky  is 
constantly  loaded  with  clouds,  and  over  a  land  with 
little  irregularity  of  surface,  the  white  peak  seems 
constantly  to  pierce  the  dark  skies.  Scattered 
about  on  this  neck  of  land  are  a  few  huts  made  of 
the  remains  of  wreckage,  galvanised  iron,  or  grass, 
according  to  the  luck  and  wealth  of  the  various  oc- 
cupants. To  the  most  palatial  of  these  we  were  first 
escorted. 

This  was  the  home  of  the  proprietor  of  the  only 
industry  of  the  place, — a  sealing  station.  We  had 
at  first  some  difficulty  in  making  ourselves  under- 
stood. There  was  no  one  among  us  speaking 
Spanish,  but  after  a  brief  effort  we  found  that  a 
little  French  was  understood  and  that  English  was 
possible  with  an  old  seaman.  At  the  lighthouse  an 
Italian  speaking  French  fluently  came  to  our  rescue. 
We  had  no  special  object  in  making  a  debarkment 
here,  but  since  the  storm  drove  us  into  shelter  the 
staff  of  scientific  collectors  determined  to  examine 
the  nearest  ground.  The  zoologist,  with  his  assist- 
ant, searched  the  shore  for  shells  and  marine  life; 
the  geologist  went  to  examine  the  sand-dunes, 
while  the  surgeon  remained  to  administer  to  the 
wants  of  the  natives,  from  whom  some  prized  ethno- 
graphic specimens  were  obtained.  The  earlier  In- 
dian tribes,  which  once  roamed  over  this  region, 
like  those  of  the  coastal  regions  farther  north,  have' 
entirely  vanished.  There  are  no  trees  nor  is  agri- 
culture in  the  immediate  vicinity  possible.     A  few 

26 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

cactus  plants  are  the  only  green  spots  which  cheer 
up  the  dull  white  sands.  But  a  short  distance  in- 
land there  is  excellent  grazing,  and  here  are  found 
some  of  the  most  magnificent  cattle  farms  of  the 
world. 

After  our  collecting  tour  we  assembled  at  the 
home  of  the  chief  sealer.  Here  the  customary  na- 
tive hospitality  was  extended  to  us  with  open  arms. 
The  women  prepared  mate,  the  South  American 
tea,  while  the  men  brought  out  their  most  precious 
varieties  of  alcohol  and  cigarettes.  The  good  people 
of  the  entire  encampment,  about  fifty  in  number, 
then  assembled  to  do  us  honour.  Among  these 
there  were  a  few  gauchos,  the  South  American  pro- 
totypes of  our  own  cowboys,  and  two  or  three 
travellers  en  route  to  Montevideo  from  Rio  Grande 
do  Sul ;  all  the  others  were  engaged  in  the  various 
departments  of  sealing.  They  had  taken  many 
seals  the  year  before,  and  16,000  during  the  pre- 
vious season,  all  of  these  from  the  rocks  which 
surround  the  cape.  The  seals  are  of  a  common 
variety,  yielding  oil  and  leather  but  no  fur.  As 
we  departed  we  were  loaded  with  presents  and 
treated  and  toasted  again  with  mate  and  brandy, 
ingredients  as  necessary  to  South  American  hos- 
pitality as  whisky  and  cigars  to  the  success  of 
an  old  time  political  meeting  in  the  United  States. 

At  four  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  the  tenth,  we 
tipped  our  anchor  and  drew  out  of  the  little  harbour, 
steaming  into  the  Plata,  close  to  its  northern  bank. 
Throughout  the  day  we  had  the  low  sandy  beds  of 
Uruguay  on  our  port  bow.     On  these  there  was  an 

.  27 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

occasional  group  of  cactus,  but  they  seemed  from  a 
distance  like  projecting  rocks  and,  aside  from  the 
relief  which  they  afforded,  there  was  nothing  to 
break  the  monotony.  It  was  one  long,  nearly  level 
bank  of  lifeless  sand.  In  the  back  ground  an  oc- 
casional row  of  blue  hills  marked  the  position  of  a 
warm  and  more  promising  country. 

On  the  morning  of  the  eleventh  the  scene  had 
noticeably  changed.  We  had  passed  Cape  Maldo- 
nado  during  the  night  and  were  heading  for  Flores 
Island  in  a  direct  course  for  Montevideo  beyond. 
The  land  no  longer  presented  the  sterile  sand-driven 
beach,  but  gray  wind-rasped  hills,  separated  by 
patches  of  forest  and  fronted  by  prominent  highlands 
which  stood  out  boldly  against  a  clearing  sky.  The 
temperature  rose  quickly  as  we  advanced  into  the 
river.  We  passed  Flores  Island  at  two  o'clock,  and 
dropped  anchor  in  the  horseshoe  bend  which  forms 
the  imperfect  harbour  of  Montevideo. 

We  had  been  met  farther  out  in  the  stream  by  the 
customs  and  quarantine  officers,  but  these  troubled 
us  little,  and  were  of  much  less  interest  to  us  than 
our  third  visitor,  the  congenial  representative  of  the 
Belgian  Consulate,  who  brought  our  letters  and  some 
news  of  interest.  To  us  the  most  startling  news  was 
the  story  of  the  bold  attempt  to  assassinate  President 
Barros  of  Brazil,  whose  friendly  hand  we  had  shaken 
only  a  few  days  previous,  apparently  surrounded  by 
all  possible  guards  to  perfect  safety.  This  case,  how- 
ever, while  somewhat  startling  to  a  stranger,  illus- 
trates one  of  the  recognised  methods  for  changing 
presidents  in  the  Spanish  American  republics.     The 

28 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

President  of  Uruguay  was  summarily  disposed  of  in 
the  same  manner  only  a  few  months  ago,  while  his 
successor  is  probably  awaiting  his  turn  with  resigned 
fate.  The  life  of  a  president  hereabout  is  evidently 
not  one  of  any  special  ease,  security,  or  comfort. 

The  city  of  Montevideo  presents,  even  from  a  dis- 
tance, an  air  of  thrift,  wealth,  and  comfort.  El  Cerro, 
a  nipple-shaped  mount,  is  the  only  distinguishing 
feature  of  the  landscape  which  marks  the  sight  of  the 
port.  It  rises  in  a  gentle  slope  to  the  height  of  five 
hundred  feet,  about  a  half  mile  from  the  rugged 
beach  on  the  western  side  of  the  bay.  Its  sides  are 
covered  with  a  thin  grass  which  is  now  giving  place 
to  residences,  a  result  of  the  recent  growth  of  the  city. 
The  top  is  crowned  by  a  fort,  and  within  this  there 
rises  a  splendid  lighthouse,  whose  powerful  revolving 
light  is  visible  at  sea  twenty-five  miles  from  the  coast. 
The  main  portion  of  the  city  stands  upon  a  peninsula 
of  gently  rising  ground  on  the  east  side  of  the  bay. 
From  here  the  town  spreads  over  a  large  portion  of 
the  mainland  and  there  are  several  prominent  build- 
ings which  stand  out  boldly  over  the  low  houses 
which  compose  the  body  of  the  city.  To  one  com- 
ing from  Rio  Janeiro  or  other  cities  in  the  tropics, 
the  most  noticeable  feature  of  this  city  is  the  dense 
volume  of  smoke  arising  from  its  chimneyed  houses 
and  thrifty  factories :  the  latter  are  a  certain  sign  of 
an  agreeable  climate  and  dry  apartments — comforts 
foreign  to  torrid  America. 

It  was,  perhaps,  eight  o'clock  in  the  evening  be- 
fore we  had  finished  reading  our  letters  and  were 
ready  for  a  debarkment.     The  afternoon  was  fairly 

29 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

clear,  there  had  been  little  wind,  and  the  temperature 
was  extremely  agreeable ;  but  now  the  aspect 
changed  with  such  suddenness  as  to  cause  some 
anxiety  for  the  ship's  safety  during  the  coming 
night.  Huge  fantastic  rolls  of  lead-like  sheets  of 
clouds  drove  rapidly  over  the  sky  from  the  west,  and 
painted  the  whole  scene  in  an  inky  blackness  with 
such  marvellous  speed  that  we  were  amazed  and 
undecided  as  to  what  it  meant  for  some  time ;  but  a 
few  zigzags  of  coloured  lightning  and  a  deafening 
burst  of  thunder  soon  explained  to  us  the  char- 
acter of  the  coming  commotion.  Thinking  that  we 
could  reach  the  shore  before  the  shower  com- 
menced, we  descended  into  one  of  the  tugs,  which 
at  once  headed  for  one  of  the  many  lights  standing 
out  boldly  in  the  inky  blackness  shoreward.  But  on 
our  way  we  were  pelted  and  pounded  by  such  a  hail 
storm  as  had  never  fallen  to  my  lot.  The  globules 
were  about  the  size  of  a  large  marble,  and  fell  in 
such  numbers  that,  though  the  fall  did  not  continue 
more  than  ten  minutes,  it  completely  covered  the 
decks.  As  we  reached  the  shore,  and  mounted  to 
the  pier  with  our  hats  battered  and  our  pockets  full 
of  icy  spheroids,  we  had  to  face  still  another  trial 
characteristic  of  the  Plata,  a  rain  storm.  But  this 
rain  storm  while  interesting  from  a  meteorological 
standpoint  did  not  arouse  us  to  a  sense  of  study. 
Big  drops  came  quickly  in  the  wake  of  the  hail  pel- 
lets, and  these  multiplied  with  such  rapidity  that  in 
a  few  minutes,  and  before  we  could  find  shelter,  it 
seemed  as  if  all  the  clouds  of  heaven  had  united  to 
pour  upon  us  a  cold  torrent. 

30 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

Drenched  as  thoroughly  as  if  we  had  been  over- 
board, we  shortly  found  our  way  to  the  Hotel  Ori- 
ental, and  here  the  entire  upper  floor  was  placed  at 
the  disposition  of  the  members  of  the  expedition. 
After  a  comfortable  night's  rest  and  a  cup  of  deli- 
cious Rio  coffee  brought  to  our  bedside  —  a  cus- 
tom which  is  everywhere  in  South  America  a  joy— 
we  prepared  for  a  material  study  of  the  city  and  its 
resources. 

San  Felipe  de  Monte  Video  is  the  full  name  of 
the  capital  of  the  Oriental  Republic  of  Uruguay,  but 
it  is  now  generally  written  Montevideo.  It  has  a 
population  of  about  200,000,  and  of  these  it  is  said 
that  not  less  than  50,000  are  foreign  residents.  The 
entire  Republic  has  a  population  not  exceeding 
800,000,  hence  one  quarter  of  Uruguayan  residences 
are  here  closely  huddled  together  near  the  mouth 
of  the  Plata.  The  blood  of  the  Uruguayans,  aside 
from  the  complex  European  admixture,  which  is 
now  entering  their  veins,  is  a  curious  blend  of  old 
Spanish  and  local  Indian.  But  unlike  similar  hybrids 
many  of  the  good  qualities  of  the  bold  Spaniard,  and 
of  the  freedom-loving  Indian  have  been  preserved. 
Hence  the  men  have  developed  into  a  type  of 
vigorous  manhood  giving  an  appearance  at  once 
of  wild  strength  and  refined  intelligence,  while  the 
women  must  be  considered  as  among  the  most  beau- 
tiful of  the  world. 

The  trade  of  Montevideo  seems  far  beyond  what 
we  would  expect  from  a  town  of  its  size.  Wool, 
hides,  tallow,  dried  beef,  and,  in  general,  the  prod- 
ucts of  cattle  farming  are  the  chief  and  nearly  the 

31 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

only  exports.  But  these  are  gathered  from  the  in- 
terior in  such  tremendous  quantities,  and  with  so 
Httle  expense,  that  they  form  an  enviable  source  of 
wealth ;  and  since  this  is  also  one  of  the  chief  exports 
of  the  United  States,  it  is  evident  that  Uruguay  is 
to  us  a  formidable  commercial  rival.  The  imports 
are  very  large,  because  this  is  a  centre  from  which 
much  of  the  country  in  the  Plata  basin  is  supplied. 
The  imports  consist  principally  of  cotton,  woollen 
and  silk  fabrics,  hardware,  wine,  various  food 
products,  and,  within  the  past  few  years,  much  im- 
proved machinery  has  been  bought.  The  trade  is 
almost  entirely  with  the  various  states  of  Europe,  of 
which  England  claims  twenty-five  per  cent.  The 
means  of  transportation  to  the  United  States  is  so 
imperfect,  and  the  efforts  of  our  merchants  have  been 
so  feeble  that  Yankee  goods  are  little  in  evidence 
here. 

From  our  balcony  at  the  hotel  we  had  a  charming 
view  of  the  city  and  of  the  bay  which  forms  the 
harbour.  Twenty-seven  steamers  of  huge  tonnage 
were  anchored  at  various  points,  mostly  far  from  the 
shore.  A  little  nearer  were  a  series  of  cruisers  from 
various  nations.  Among  these  were  the  beautiful 
little  Castine  of  our  White  Squadron,  and  H.  M.  S. 
Retribution.  Still  nearer  were  a  large  number  of 
flat-bottom  river  crafts,  which  navigate  the  Parana 
and  Uruguay  rivers.  The  harbour  thus  presented 
every  evidence  of  thrift  and  industry,  while  the  many 
large  warehouses  fronting  the  water  were  sufficient 
proof  of  the  great  commerce.  The  city  is  composed 
mostly  of  tile-roofed  two-story  stone  houses,  neat  in 

32 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

appearance,  and  comfortable  in  equipments.  The 
law  prohibits  the  building  of  private  residences  more 
than  seventeen  metres  in  height.  But  there  are 
many  public  buildings  which  are  raised  much  higher, 
and  notable  among  these  is  the  imposing  structure 
which  now  belongs  to  the  University  of  Montevideo. 
It  was  originally  built  as  a  hotel,  but  was  finally 
bought  by  the  Government  as  the  home  of  its  prin- 
cipal institute  of  learning.  The  building  occupies  a 
good  sized  square,  is  five  stories  in  height,  and  has 
a  wide  open  centre  with  balconies  on  every  floor. 
The  institution  has  excellent  laboratories,  libraries, 
and  is  in  many  ways  well  adapted  for  modern  edu- 
cation. It  is  thus  a  proof  of  the  noble  and  higher 
aims  of  our  little  sister  Republic. 

Closely  connected  with  the  University  is  the 
growing  fame  of  a  young  Italian  bacteriologist  — 
Dr.  I.  Sanarelli.  Two  years  ago  Dr.  Sanarelli  ac- 
cepted a  position  on  the  staff  of  the  Institute  of 
Hygiene,  and  in  addition  to  his  regular  work  he  has 
devoted  much  of  his  time  to  a  careful  search  for  the 
germ  of  yellow  fever.  His  efforts  seem  to  have 
been  crowned  with  success,  for  he  is  to-day  the 
most  noted  man  in  all  South  America.  I  heard 
the  name  of  Dr.  Sanarelli  on  every  tongue  from 
the  Amazon  to  the  Plata,  and  I  expected  to  pay  him 
a  formal  professional  visit,"  but  this  was  obviated  by 
a  more  natural  meeting.  We  were  taking  dinner 
at  the  one  fashionable  restaurant  of  the  town  when 
the  famous  doctor  came  in,  and  he  was  promptly 
ushered  to  our  table. 

The   story  of  the   discovery  of  the   germ  of  a 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

disease  which  has  destroyed  thousands,  perhaps 
milHons,  of  human  lives,  is  a  matter  of  considerable 
interest  and  certainly  vastly  more  important  than 
that  of  a  king  who  has  conquered  nations.  And  if 
this  discovery  is  supplemented  by  a  remedy  which 
will  cure  or  prevent  the  disease,  it  will  surely  be  one 
of  the  greatest  blessings  which  the  world  has  ever 
known.  Both  of  these  attainments  seem  to  be 
within  the  grasp  of  Dr.  Sanarelli.  During  the  early 
partof  the  present  year  (1897)  he  discovered  the  little 
organism  which  is  the  cause  of  the  yellow  pest.  The 
news  has  spread  over  the  entire  world,  but  with  the 
usual  conservative  attitude  of  the  medical  profession 
the  brilliant  discovery  has  been  but  slowly  recog- 
nised ;  even  at  present  there  are  many  doubters  who 
will  not  accept  the  newly  discovered  organism  as  the 
sole  cause  of  yellow  fever  until  confirmatory  obser- 
vations establish  the  fact  more  definitely.  The 
Montevideo  doctors,  however,  one  and  all,  accept  the 
discovery  as  final  and  look  with  confidence  to  Dr. 
Sanarelli  for  the  practical  outcome  of  the  curative 
plan  of  treatment  upon  which  he  is  now  experi- 
menting. 

To  cure  yellow  fever  with  its  cause  in  hand,  it  is 
proposed  to  make  a  fluid  similar  to  the  anti-diph- 
theritic serums,  which  are  either  destructive  or  in- 
hibitory to  the  germs  in  question.  Such  a  serum 
has  been  made  and  it  has  been  tried  upon  beasts 
and  men  with  what  Dr.  Sanarelli  considers  marked 
success.  The  Brazilian  government,  in  whose  do- 
main there  is  always  a  nursery  of  the  disease,  has 
recognised  the  great  possibilities  of  this  work,  and 

34 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

will  shortly  set  up  an  experimental  laboratory  for 
the  manufacture  of  the  serum.  For  a  positive  judg- 
ment as  to  the  success  or  failure  of  the  serum  plan 
of  treatment  we  must  wait  for  a  long  trial,  perhaps 
several  years ;  but  the  glory  and  the  credit  of  being 
the  first  to  see  in  this  dangerous  little  speck  of  life, 
hitherto  invisible,  an  enemy  which  has  caused  the 
death  of  uncounted  thousands  of  vigorous  human 
lives,  already  belongs  beyond  a  question  to  Dr. 
Sanarelli. 

Our  time  at  Montevideo  was  spent  in  collecting 
articles  of  equipment,  provisions,  and  general  sup- 
plies, for  the  use  of  the  expedition  in  the  icy  ant- 
arctic. For  this  purpose  the  city  affords  many 
advantages,  since  nearly  all  foreign  goods  can  be 
obtained  at  very  moderate  prices,  and  the  local  pro- 
duction of  fresh  provisions  is  both  limitless  and 
cheap.  Under  the  guidance  of  our  thoughtful  Bel- 
gian friends,  we  were  offered  every  facility  to  enjoy 
the  warm  hospitality  of  the  place,  and  to  accomplish 
quickly  the  objects  of  our  visit.  And  although  we 
were  anchored  here  less  than  three  days,  we  were 
able  to  complete  our  mission,  and  see  a  few  of  the 
local  characteristics.  The  stores  are  everywhere 
well  stocked  with  domestic  and  foreign  goods,  and  if 
the  buyer  is  able  to  speak  English  or  French  he  will 
have  little  difficulty  in  being  understood.  The  streets 
are  wide,  regular,  and  well  paved  with  granite  blocks. 
Tram-ways  afford  ample  but  slow  transit.  Carriages 
are  numerous,  and  can  be  obtained  at  a  very  moder- 
ate cost.  Somewhat  irregularly  scattered  through- 
out the  city  are  small  parks  with  neat  arrangements 

35 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

of  tropical  and  semi-tropical  plants.  The  greatest 
attention,  however,  seems  to  be  given  not  to  flowery 
decorations,  but  to  the  systematic  adjustment  of 
wide   promenades. 

It  does  not  take  a  party  of  young  bachelors,  such 
as  the  ''  personnel "  of  the  Belgica,  very  long  to  dis- 
cover the  side  of  life  with  which  these  promenades 
are  always  closely  related.  Indeed,  we  soon  found 
out,  without  assistance,  the  reason  for  their  great 
width  in  proportion  to  the  size  of  the  park — a  cause 
which  was  to  us  a  never-ceasing  pleasure.  For  we 
all  arrived  independently  at  the  conclusion  that  ^his 
feature  of  the  city  must  be  due  to  the  remarka^  ^ 
number  and  variety  of  strikingly  beautiful  women 
in  Montevideo,  and  their  desire  to  display  their  quali- 
ties to  male  admirers.  So  far  as  my  limited  experi- 
ence goes,  there  is  no  street  or  promenade  in  the 
world  which  can  offer  so  large  a  number  of  charm- 
ing young  women,  in  a  given  group  and  in  a  given 
time,  as  these  palmy  promenades  of  Montevideo. 
We  found  it  difficult  to  assign  a  tangible  reason  for 
this  attractiveness.  It  was  not  in  the  dress,  for  the 
costume  was  that  of  nearly  all  the  civilised  world. 
It  was  not  in  the  form,  in  the  colour  of  the  hair,  in 
the  carriage,  or  in  any  noticeable  art  of  manner; 
for  all  of  these  characteristics  were  comparable  to 
those  of  the  refined  w^omen  of  New  York,  Paris,  or 
London.  But  in  addition  to  perfection  in  all  these 
matters  there  was  about  them  an  indescribable 
something,  which  made  every  woman  on  sight  ap- 
pear to  be  able  to  speak  her  own  ideas  and  the 
meditations  of  her  admirers  in  the  tongues  of  the 

36 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

observer,  be  he  French,  English,  German,  Spanish, 
or  what  not.  Perhaps  we  were  too  much  absorbed  to 
have  discriminating  powers ;  but  for  this  we  should 
be  pardoned,  for  it  was  about  the  last  glance  we  had 
of  women,  beautiful  or  otherwise,  during  four  hun- 
dred long,  wintry  days. 

The  most  prominent  citizen  of  the  United  States 
in  Uruguay  is  a  modest  Bostonian  of  whom  we  hear 
little  at  home,  but  who  is  well-known  throughout 
South  America.  He  is  Mr.  Thomas  W.  Howard, 
who  has  enjoyed  the  unparalleled  distinction  of  being 
a  consular  representative  of  the  United  States  for 
nearly  thirty  years.  The  force  of  character,  the  ex- 
ecutive ability  and  faithfulness  to  the  home  Govern- 
ment, necessary  to  retain  such  a  position  through 
all  the  political  upheavals,  must  be  evident  to  every 
one.  The  fact  is,  that  Mr.  Howard  has  performed 
his  duties  so  faithfully,  and  is  such  a  favourite  at  once 
among  his  countrymen  and  the  Uruguayans,  that  a 
change  has  been  found  to  be  undesirable  by  both 
the  Democratic  and  Republican  parties.  Mr.  How- 
ard's residence  is  one  of  the  bits  of  local  architecture 
which  is  much  discussed  and  admired.  It  is  situated 
in  the  most  fashionable  part  of  the  town,  on  the 
border  of  a  small  but  luxuriant  park.  Its  external 
appearance  is  not  extraordinary  in  either  size  or 
loveliness,  appearing  simply  as  a  substantial  struc- 
ture of  bright  sandstone  with  two  stories,  but  the 
interior  displays  wealth  and  artistic  taste.  Here  ex- 
pensively polished  marbles,  rare  antique  furniture, 
and  tasteful  decorations  are  everywhere  in  evidence. 
It  is  the   home   of  a   cultivated   and   refined   man 

^7 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

of  the  world,  amid  the  boundless  South  American 
luxuries. 

It  is  impossible  for  me  to  give  in  this  limited 
space  the  various  phases  of  interesting  life  in  this 
merry  Paris  of  South  America,  so  I  will  close  with  a 
few  general  impressions :  First,  Montevideo  is  a 
city  of  uncounted  natural  wealth,  for  prosperity  is 
stamped  on  the  blocks  of  every  street,  on  the  modest 
but  comfortable  homes,  on  the  stores,  the  hotels,  the 
clubs,  and  the  churches.  Second,  it  is  a  city  of 
charming  women,  against  whom  I  could  bring  but 
one  indictment,  that  of  disbelieving  in  their  natural 
charms  to  such  an  extent  as  to  lead  them  into  a 
lavish  use  of  artificial  colouring  and  powder.  Third, 
the  enjoyment  of  life  is  here  one  of  the  prominent 
arts  of  daily  occupation.  Merry  faces  are  always 
in  evidence,  and  the  light,  airy  laughter  of  both 
sexes  bursts  with  the  ease  of  soap  bubbles.  Deep 
meditation,  curbing,  or  melancholy  cares,  and  pro- 
found inspirations  are  usually  out  of  sight.  Among 
Uruguayans  life  is  indeed  a  happy,  leaping,  bubbling 
stream. 


3« 


CHAPTER   III 

ORGANISATION    OF   THE   EXPEDITION 

Off  Cape  Virgins,  November,  29,  1897. 

Quite  as  interesting  as  the  work  of  an  exploring 
expedition  is  the  story  of  the  initial  inception  of 
the  idea,  and  the  various  experiences,  fortunes  and 
misfortunes  of  its  projector.  The  difficulty  of  Colum- 
bus in  securing  the  necessary  funds  for  his  bold 
voyage  across  the  unknown  waters  of  the  west  are 
familiar  to  all.  A  similar  difficulty  has  fallen  to  the 
lot  of  M.  de  Gerlache  and  every  explorer  who,  even 
in  the  modern  days  of  progress  and  scientific  en- 
lightenment, has  tried  to  secure  the  necessary  funds 
for  a  voyage  of  scientific  exploration.  When  an 
area  equal  to  one  sixth  of  the  known  land  surface 
of  the  globe  still  remains  unexplored,  it  is  easy  to 
formulate  plans  for  journeys  of  discovery  ;  but  to 
secure  the  money  for  their  execution  is  quite  another 
matter. 

The  ambition  for  antarctic  exploration  in  Lieu- 
tenant de  Gerlache's  mind  is  an  old  story.  "  Explora- 
tion in  general,"  he  says,  ''  and  antarctic  exploration 
in  particular,  has  always  had  for  me  a  particular  fas- 
cination.    When  Professor  Nordenskjold  announced 

39 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHF 

his  project  for  south  polar  exploration  in  1892,  I  at 
once  volunteered,  but  this,  like  many  other  projected 
southern  expeditions,  never  materialised.  The  dis- 
appointment, however,  only  sharpened  my  ambition 
as  did  every  one  of  my  many  subsequent  discour- 
agements." 

In  1894  Lieut,  de  Gerlache  presented  his  first 
paper  to  the  Royal  Geographical  Society  of  Brus- 
sels. It  was  the  prospectus  of  this  expedition  in  its 
infancy.  In  it  he  made  as  strong  a  plea  as  possible 
for  aid  to  promote  exploration  of  the  long  neglected 
antarctic.  The  Society  approved  of  the  project,  but 
offered,  at  that  time,  no  financial  assistance  and  even 
delayed  its  moral  support.  Various  men  of  wealth 
were  then  appealed  to,  and  after  many  dishearten- 
ing disappointments,  he  enlisted  the  interest  of 
M.  Solvay,  a  promoter  of  science,  ''  and  with  him 
the  first  glimmer  of  success  dawned  upon  the  horizon 
of  the  enterprise  which  was  the  '  apple  of  my  eye ' — 
the  projected  Belgian  Antarctic  Expedition." 

Mr.  Solvay  laid  the  foundation  of  the  fund  with 
25,000  francs,  or  $5,000.  In  addition,  he  generously 
furnished  the  money  for  a  visit  to  the  arctic  regions, 
a  necessary  preliminary  schooling  for  an  antarctic 
explorer.  A  leave  without  pay  was  obtained  from 
the  Navy  to  promote  the  germinating  interests  of 
the  coming  expedition.  In  the  early  part  of  1895 
Gerlache  went  to  Norway,  and  with  the  Norwe- 
gian sealers  to  Jan  Mayen  and  to  the  East  Green- 
land waters.  Here  he  studied  the  life  of  the  sealers 
at  work,  their  methods,  and  the  strange  animal  life. 
He  studied  the  elements  of  ice  navigation,  and  above 

40 


I 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

all,  caught  the  never-dying  fascination  which  enrapt- 
ures every  intruder  into  the  white  boreal  regions. 

On  his  return  from  the  Arctic  Sea,  the  expedition 
had  assumed  a  more  definite  shape ;  the  plan  was 
matured,  and  definite  arrangements  were  at  once  in- 
stituted. A  prospectus  was  sent  to  King  Leopold  with 
a  request  for  an  audience,  but  it  was  refused.  Gerlache 
then  wrote  a  series  of  five  articles,  calculated  to 
awaken  interest  in  south  polar  regions.  These  were 
published  and  given  much  prominence  by  L!  Inde- 
pendance  Beige.  The  articles,  with  the  warm  sup- 
port of  the  press,  aroused  the  needed  enthusiasm, 
and  created  the  welcome  public  sentiment  which 
carried  the  project  to  its  final  issue. 

The  Geographical  Society,  on  its  next  meeting,  at 
the  end  of  January,  1896,  opened  a  subscription  list, 
but  the  fund  swelled  slowly.  With  the  assistance  of 
regimental  festivities,  cycling  contests,  exhibitions, 
and  the  help  of  various  special  committees  through- 
out Belgium,  1 20,000  francs  ($24,000)  were  realised. 
The  Government  was  then  appealed  to,  and  it  re- 
sponded with  a  grant  of  100,000  francs  ($20,000). 
The  total  sum  was  now  $50,000.  The  road  to  suc- 
cess now  seemed  very  easy,  but  other  and  unexpected 
troubles  followed.  The  $50,000,  with  the  greatest 
economy,  did  not  suffice  for  the  many  unlooked-for 
contingencies. 

Active  preparations  were  begun  early  in  June  of 
1896,  though  it  was  hardly  expected  that  the  expe- 
dition  would    be    able   to   start   during   that   year. 
Gerlache  went  to  Norway,  and  there  bought  from 
Captain  Pedersen  the  Patria   according  to  a  pre- 

41 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

vious  agreement,  patriotically  rechristening  her 
Belgica,  She  seemed  to  be  about  the  only  ship  of  the 
Norwegian  ice-fleet  at  all  suitable  for  the  expedition, 
and  even  after  she  was  secured  Lieutenant  de  Gerlache 
had  to  arrange  with  Mr.  Christensen  of  Sandafjiord 
to  put  in  a  new  boiler,  and  to  make  other  necessary 
alterations  and  repairs.  At  about  this  time,  also, 
definite  arrangements  were  made  with  several  of  the 
prospective  members  of  the  expedition — Messrs. 
Arctowski,  Danco,  and  Amundsen  were  enlisted  in 
the  project.  In  spite  of  many  minor  discourage- 
ments, the  prospects  now  really  seemed  bright ;  the 
expedition,  it  was  felt,  would  surely  embark.  But 
Gerlache  was  then  again  delayed,  though  undaunted, 
by  finding  that  the  fund  at  his  command  was  not 
sufficient  to  properly  equip  the  expedition. 

The  final  preparations  of  the  vessel,  the  purchase 
of  the  scientific  instruments,  many  of  which  were 
specially  made,  the  want  of  ready  money,  and  a 
thousand  little  matters  which  needed  attention  com- 
bined to  delay  the  expedition.  In  addition  to  these 
drawbacks,  other  scientific  men  were  necessary  to 
complete  the  staff.  Special  efforts  were  put  forth  to 
secure  a  competent  zoologist,  one  who  possessed 
qualities  essential  to  a  polar  explorer,  and  this 
proved  one  of  the  greatest  difficulties.  Belgium  and 
France  were  searched  without  avail,  and  finally 
Mr.  Racovitza  was  found  in  Rumania.  But  he  was 
doing  military  duty,  and  it  was  feared  that  the  diplo- 
matic arrangements  essential  for  his  release  would 
be  slow.  However,  he  was  luckily  freed  at  once 
to  join  the  growing  family  of  pioneers. 

42 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

For  south  polar  exploration  it  is  necessary  to 
leave  the  northern  hemisphere  in  July  or  August. 
For  it  should  be  remembered  that  the  seasons  in  the 
south  are  the  reverse  of  those  of  the  north.  January 
is  the  midsummer  of  the  antarctic.  The  vessels 
which  are  fitted  to  withstand  ice  jamming  are  slow. 
The  heavy  cumbersome  timbers,  the  blunt  bow, 
round  bottom,  fuel-saving  engines  and  small  canvas, 
are  all  excellent  for  ice  navigation,  but  they  are  de- 
cided impediments  to  speed.  The  first  of  September 
was  now  at  hand,  and  painful  as  was  the  thought  of 
a  year's  delay,  it  proved  unavoidable. 

Lieutenant  de  Gerlache  was  in  close  communion 
with  Commander  Wandel  of  Copenhagen  who  had 
charge  of  the  Danish  East  Greenland  Expedition. 
This  expedition  in  its  scientific  aims  was  more  like 
the  prospective  Belgian  Expedition  than  any  other 
venture,  and  furthermore  Captain  Wandel  was  fa- 
miliar with  the  United  States  exploring  ship  Blake, 
which  had  done  splendid  work  in  ascertaining  the 
depths  of  the  Pacific.  "  From  Commander  Wandel," 
says  Gerlache,  **  I  obtained  not  only  valuable 
data,  but  much  of  his  equipment  at  a  nominal  cost." 
In  this  way  the  end  of  the  summer  was  spent  in 
Denmark,  and  in  a  similar  way  the  winter  was  spent 
in  Norway. 

To  visit  Dr.  Nansen,  and  to  prepare  himself  more 
thoroughly  for  the  antarctic,  Gerlache  made  his 
home  in  Norway  during  the  early  months  of  winter. 
For  a  like  reason  Lieutenant  Danco  accompanied 
him ;  they  learned  to  travel  on  skis,  and  experi- 
mented  with    sledges,   winter   clothing,    and   camp 

43 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

equipments.  The  best  possible  outfit  was  selected 
for  the  intended  sledge  journeys  over  the  virgin  south 
polar  lands.  Many  condensed  and  preserved  foods, 
admirably  adapted  for  polar  journeys,  are  best  ob- 
tained in  Norway.  From  this  experience  it  followed 
that  most  of  our  provisions  were  Norwegian. 

Returning  from  Norway  with  the  Belgica  early  in 
July  1897,  he  found  that  all  the  money  was  spent, 
and  still  he  needed  many,  very  many,  important 
things.  ''Again,"  says  Gerlache,  ''I  sought  aid  by 
private  subscriptions,  and  again  we  were  doomed  to 
disappointment.  We  now  decided  on  a  desperate 
effort.  It  was  to  arrange  a  public  exhibition  of  the 
Belgica  and  its  entire  equipment,  and  either  raise  the 
additional  financial  support,  or  sell  the  whole  outfit 
and  abandon  the  project.  The  exhibition  was  very 
largely  attended  by  the  best  people  of  Belgium,  a 
fresh  interest  was  created,  and  a  new  patriotic  pride 
now  arose  in  behalf  of  the  expedition. 

"A  subscription  feast  was  prepared,  which,  through 
the  indefatigable  efforts  of  Madame  Osterrieth,  be- 
came very  popular  and  profitable.  The  festivities 
were  held  at  a  public  park  in  Antwerp  which  was 
handsomely  decorated  for  the  occasion.  Special 
military  gymnastics  and  cycling  contests  were 
among  the  attractions,  the  attendance  was  large, 
and  the  welfare  of  the  '  Expedition  Antartique 
Beige '  was  on  every  tongue.  The  occasion  won 
for  Madame  Osterrieth  the  title  of  '  Mother  Antarc- 
tic,' and  for  the  expedition  ten  thousand  francs. 

"  Mr.  Schollaert,  the  worthy  Minister  of  the  In- 
terior, visited  the  Belgica  as  did  many  other  deputies, 

44 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

and  through  them  the  Government  was  asked  for 
another  sixty  thousand  francs — an  amount  absolutely- 
necessary  to  assure  the  successful  issue  of  the  expe- 
dition. This  was  granted,  making  the  entire  fund 
from  all  sources  three  hundred  thousand  francs, 
or  about  sixty  thousand  dollars.  With  this,  prep- 
arations were  at  once  made  to  leave  Antwerp 
and  the  departure  was  announced  for  August  i6th. 

"  Letters  and  telegrams  with  good  wishes  and 
friendly  sentiments  poured  in  from  all  sides  at  the 
last  moment.  But  of  these  I  can  only  mention  a 
few : 

*'  Captain  Hovgaard  of  the  Danish  Navy,  and  a 
member  of  the  famous  Vega  Expedition  wired  his 
compliments  and  *  Good  Luck.' 

"  Dr.  Neumayer,  of  Hamburg,  who  has  advo- 
cated antarctic  exploration  for  twenty-five  years 
wired :  *  My  most  sincere  wishes  follow  you  toward 
the  south  pole.' 

*'  Fridtjof  Nansen,  whose  star  of  fame  had  just 
risen,  wired :  '  Chance  and  luck  follow  you  and  the 
Belgica.  May  the  voyage  bring  such  rich  scientific 
results  as  the  careful  preparations  promise,  and  may 
it  throw  a  new  light  over  the  darkest  part  of  the 
world.' 

**We  weighed  anchor  and  drew  out  of  Antwerp 
on  August  1 6th.  Many  people  gathered  to  see  the 
starting,  and  all  Antwerp  seemed  on  foot  to  wish  us 
bon  voyage.  Representatives  from  many  French 
societies  were  there  to  congratulate  us  on  our  good 
fortune  with  the  organisation,  and  to  wish  the  expe- 
dition unbounded  success.     The  yachts  of  the  Ant- 

45 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

werp  Yacht  Club,  under  whose  flag  the  Belgica 
sailed,  showed  their  interest  by  salutations  and  a  rich 
bedecking  of  flags.  Amid  the  storm  of  cheers  from 
the  people  on  the  quays,  the  tooting  of  whistles  from 
neighbouring  crafts,  and  the  thundering  of  cannons 
from  places  which  we  knew  not,  we  slowly  with- 
drew. After  a  few  hours  Antwerp,  with  its  friendly 
hilarity  and  its  bustling  activity,  sank  from  view. 
Then,  after  a  breath  of  ease  and  a  moment  of  re- 
flection, we  felt  that  the  hardest  part  of  our  work 
had  been  accomplished.  At  last  the  hard-earned 
project  was  afloat,  and,  as  if  to  force  the  pride  of 
our  work  upon  us,  the  Dutch  cruiser  Kartenaar  fol- 
lowed us  out  to  sea  in  company  for  twenty-four 
hours,  an  indication  of  neighbourly  affection  which 
we  keenly  appreciated.  This  we  afterwards  learned 
was  by  order  of  the  Dutch  Queen  Wilhelmina. 

"  Head  winds,  against  which  no  progress  could 
be  made,  and  a  small  accident  to  the  engine,  made 
it  necessary  to  put  into  Ostend.  Here  his  Majesty, 
King  Leopold,  visited  us,  offering  many  congratula- 
tions on  the  success  of  the  difficult  task  of  organis- 
ing the  first  Belgian  polar  expedition.  His  Majesty 
took  a  sharp  interest  in  the  Belgica,  and  closely  ex- 
amined her  many  peculiar  fixtures,  finally  offering 
his  hand  and  many  words  of  warm  encouragement 
befitting  the  occasion. 

"  During  the  few  hot  days  of  August,  which  were 
spent  at  Ostend,  a  teeming  mass  of  fellow-country- 
men and  women  crowded  the  decks  of  the  Belgica. 
It  seemed,  with  the  vessel  loaded  so  heavily,  with 
every  cubic  foot  of  space  occupied,  and  even  the 

46 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

bunks  and  state-rooms  piled  full  of  useful  articles, 
so  that  there  was  really  no  room  for  curiosity  seek- 
ers, as  if  all  Ostend,  and  a  good  part  of  the  outside 
world,  had  been  aboard.  There  came  a  time,  how- 
ever, when  the  ship  must  leave,  when  we  must 
finally  sever  ourselves  from  the  friendly  atmosphere 
of  our  beloved  native  land,  and  leave  our  friends 
behind  for  the  second  and  last  time  until  our  return." 
It  was  on  the  eve  of  the  final  departure  from  home, 
by  the  way,  that  my  own  name  was  first  suggested 
as  a  future  companion.  There  had  been  consid- 
erable trouble  and  some  disappointment  in  connec- 
tion with  the  surgeons  appointed.  The  first  candidate 
was  put  aside,  after  acceptance,  for  personal  rea- 
sons, and  the  second  declined  to  go  at  the  last  mo- 
ment for  family  reasons.  Without  a  knowledge 
of  this  difficulty  I  cabled,  volunteering  my  services, 
though  at  this  time  I  had  not  previously  written  a 
line,  nor  was  I  acquainted  with  a  single  individual 
of  the  expedition,  or  its  representatives.  In  response 
to  my  cable  I  received  this : 

iB  H  WH  II  OSTENDE,  10.45P  (Via  369  Fulton  St  Brooklyn,) 
DR  COOK, 

BROOKLYN,  N.  Y. 

FOUVEZ  REJOINDRE  MONTEVIDEO  MAIS  HIVER- 

NEREZ  PAS 

GERLACHE. 

To  this  I  answered  yes,  and  it  was  followed  by, 
**  Meet  us  at  Rio,  end  of  September."  I  had  only  a  few 
days  to  prepare  myself  and  my  outfit  for  a  journey 
which  might  take  one  year,  or  ten,  or  a  lifetime.    But 

47 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

I  was  determined  to  go,  and  so  it  came  about  that  in 
September  I  found  myself  on  the  way  to  meet  my 
prospective  companions  on  the  unfriendly  bosom  of 
the  Atlantic,  seasick  and  miserable  from  rough 
weather  and  tropical  heat.  I  should  have  had  a 
longer  time  to  afford  better  means  to  prepare  for  a 
journey  of  this  kind.  To  consent  by  cable  to  cast 
my  lot  in  a  battle  against  the  supposed  unsurmount- 
able  icy  barriers  of  the  south,  with  total  strangers, 
men  from  another  continent,  speaking  a  language 
strange  to  me,  does  indeed  seem  rash.  But  I  never 
had  cause  to  regret  it.  The  antarctic  has  always 
been  the  dream  of  my  life,  and  to  be  on  the  way  to 
it  was  then  my  ideal  of  happiness.  To  be  on  the 
way  from  it  was  an  ambition  quite  as  strong  two 
years  later. 

Captain  Lecointe  describes  the  final  departure  and 
the  voyage  down  the  Atlantic  thus :  ''  There  was  a 
great  storm  of  sentimental  and  serious  enthusiasm 
as  we  left  Ostend  on  August  24th.  Fathers  and 
mothers,  brothers  and  sisters,  and  other  men's  sisters 
were  there  to  press  upon  us  their  last  tokens  of  love. 
This  was  done  in  different  ways.  Some  cried,  others 
laughed  and  took  the  matter  in  a  good  humor,  and 
still  others  were  angry  that  one  of  their  number 
should,  with  eyes  open,  go  from  a  warm  home  to 
what  was  predicted  to  be  a  certain  icy  grave. 
Many  of  the  old  seamen  about  gave  gratuitous  ad- 
vice to  our  friends,  based  upon  their  own  experiences 
about  Cape  Horn,  which  in  substance  was  generally 
'these  men  will  never  return.'  As  the  Belgica  drew 
out  from  the  docks  and  we  saw  for  the  last  time  for 

48 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

many  months  the  red  faces  of  sadness,  the  pale  faces  of 
anxiety,  the  waving  handkerchiefs,  and  as  we  felt  the 
parting  girlish  kisses  coming  with  the  soft  breezes, 
we  were,  indeed,  half  sorry  to  leave  our  little  land  of 
home  delights.  Amid  the  cheer  of  enthusiastic  voices 
and  the  thunder  of  salutations  from  whistles  and  guns 
we  glided  out  into  the-  broad  Atlantic,  whose  beating 
swells  were  henceforth  to  be  our  home  and  our  high- 
way to  the  chosen  field  of  action,  the  snowy  south 
polar  regions." 


The  Belgica. 


49 


CHAPTER  IV 

THE  "  BELGICA,"  HER  EQUIPMENT,  HER 
COMFORTS  AND  DISCOMFORTS 

Strait  of  Magellan,  Dec.  2,  1897. 

I  HAVE  now  been  on  the  Belgica  more  than 
a  month,  and  my  admiration  for  her  becomes 
stronger  as  we  advance  toward  the  southern  ice.  Her 
history,  her  fittings,  her  equipment,  and  her  men,  all 
serve  to  enhance  this  affection,  and  every  day  I  find 
in  our  good  ship  new  points  of  interest.  She  has  been 
dressed  and  redressed  so  much  on  this  voyage  down 
the  Atlantic  that  the  original  owners  would  now 
hardly  recognise  her.  She  has  been  scraped  and 
polished  and  painted,  and  rearranged  inside  and 
out,  until  she  looks  quite  like  a  pleasure  craft.  Her 
new  name.  Steam  Yacht  Belgica,  now  fits  her,  for 
her  aspect  and  atmosphere  as  a  greasy,  sooty  sealer 
has  vanished.  The  almost  inseparable  distinction 
of  a  sealing  craft,  the  persistent  fishy  odour,  is  also 
gone. 

The  more  we  drive  her  over  this  lonely  sea,  the 
more  we  fix  and  comb  and  dress  her,  the  stronger 
we  feel  her  quivering  animation.  She  already  has 
a  place  in  our  affections  as  definitely  as  a  pet  horse. 
As  she  takes  us  farther  and  farther  away  from  our 

50 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

homes,  we  become  daily  more  dependent  upon  her. 
And  as  she  pitches  and  tosses  in  the  unruly  seas,  and 
rides  out  the  forbidding  storms,  we  feel  we  shall  love 
her  better.  We  may  have  become  sentimental  about 
our  little  pet,  but  so  much  depends  on  her.  On  the 
ability  of  the  Belgica  to  plough  through  the  virgin 
antarctic  ice,  depends  our  success  in  exploring  the 
prospective  new  lands.  On  her  hospitality  depends 
our  comfort,  and  on  her  stability  depends,  not  only 
the  success  or  failure  of  the  entire  expedition,  but 
our  future  existence,  for  if  she  is  buried  in  the  ant- 
arctic, we  cannot  hope  to  survive,  we  must  go  with 
her  to  an  icy  grave. 

To  see  the  Belgica  aright,  and  appreciate  her  real 
value,  she  should  be  observed  in  the  polar  ice,  her 
natural  home.  In  a  cosmopolitan  harbour,  like  Ant- 
werp or  Rio  de  Janeiro,  among  the  larger  ships  and 
modern  ironclads,  she  seems  like  a  little  bull-dog  amid 
a  group  of  large  greyhounds — small,  awkward,  and 
ungraceful.  In  colour  the  Belgica  is  gray,  with  natural 
wood  and  cream  trimmings.  She  is  bark  rigged, 
and  has  patent  single  topsails.  Her  body  is  one 
hundred  and  ten  feet  long,  twenty-six  feet  wide, 
and  she  has  a  draft  of  fifteen  feet.  In  a  good  wind, 
without  steam,  she  is  able  to  sail  six  knots.  An 
auxiliary  steam  power  is  placed  well  aft,  that  the  bow 
may  rise  to  crush  the  ice.  The  boiler  is  new,  and 
the  engine  has  an  effective  horse-power  of  one  hun- 
dred and  fifty.  Burning  three  and  a  half  tons  of 
coal,  in  Belgian  bricks  {bricquettes),  and  with  smooth 
water,  the  Belgica  will  make  seven  knots  per  hour. 
But  we  shall  only  use  her  half  speed,  for  with  two 

51 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

tons  of  coal  she  will  make  about  four  knots,  a  speed 
quite  sufficient  amid  icebergs,  drifting  floes,  pack- 
ice,  and  unknown  rocks. 

There  are  many  points  of  special  interest  in  the 
construction  of  a  modern  steam  sealer  like  the  Bel- 
gica.  But  to  describe  all  these  would  lead  us  into 
too  many  long  nautical  details.  In  selecting  the 
framework  of  the  bark,  timbers  were  obtained  of 
double  the  usual  size  and  strength  of  an  ordinary 
vessel  of  the  same  measurement.  The  stem  was 
inclined,  making  the  bow  of  an  inclination  similar  to 
that  of  a  sledge  runner,  which  enables  the  vessel  to 
rise  on  to  the  surface  of  the  ice,  and  crush  it  rather 
by  its  own  weight  than  by  the  motive  force,  as  did 
the  older  ice-vessels.  Otherwise  the  shape  is  similar 
to  that  of  a  well-built  modern  sealing  vessel. 

The  planking  inside  and  outside  of  the  ponderous 
framework  is  of  extraordinary  strength,  and  over  all 
is  a  special  ice-sheathing  of  very  hard  wood.  The 
bow  and  stern  are  protected  by  four-inch  planks  of 
greenheart,  a  tropical  wood  possessing  the  remark- 
able quality  of  being  both  hard  and  elastic.  Ex- 
perience has  taught  that  this  wood  affords  the  best 
protection  against  the  ice  destruction.  Amidships 
the  wear  is  less,  and  here  thick  oak  planks  seem  to 
aflbrd  the  needed  security,  while  it  is  much  lighter 
and  cheaper.  The  stern  wall  is  five  feet  thick,  and 
the  breast  wall  about  twelve  feet  in  antro-posterior 
diameter.  Outside  of  this  almost  indestructible  bat- 
tering ram,  there  is  a  protective  sheathing  of  soft 
Swedish  iron,  to  receive  the  first  cutting  edges  of 
the  ice. 

52 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

The  rudder  is  large  and  specially  strong  to  stand 
the  strain  of  the  crushing  ice,  while  the  vessel 
goes  astern  into  the  pack.  The  helmport  is  large 
enough  to  make  it  possible  to  dislodge  obstructive 
ice.  The  propeller,  too,  has  its  special  points  of  in- 
terest. It  can  be  raised  out  of  the  water,  as  occa- 
sion may  require,  to  free  it  from  ice  entanglements, 
or  to  replace  it  with  a  new  one,  should  it  be  broken, 
and  also  to  permit  free  sailing.  And  then  there  is 
the  crow's  nest  —  a  huge  barrel  raised  to  the  top  of 
the  mainmast,  to  enable  the  lookout  to  view  a  greater 
horizon.  We  shall  often  expect  to  hear,  as  I  have 
in  the  arctic,  startling  news  from  the  man  in  this 
sky-barrel.  He  will  probably  announce  the  first 
sight  of  some  new  lands,  and  will  often  send  down  a 
signal  of  our  approach  to  some  big  animal,  which 
will  bring  us  all  on  deck  armed  with  rifles,  only  to 
find  a  piece  of  discoloured  ice  or  snow  as  a  target. 

If  by  any  chance  the  southern  ice-floes  should 
hug  us  too  affectionately,  we  are  well  prepared  for 
its  unwelcome  caresses.  Our  little  ship  will  stand  a 
good  deal  of  hard  squeezing ;  she  is  constructed  to 
fight  not  only  with  her  engines  and  her  armoured 
breast,  but  in  her  bowels  we  have  stored  something 
like  two  thousand  pounds  of  tonite,  an  explosive  said 
to  be  superior  to  dynamite  for  ice  destruction.  With 
this  tonite  we  hope  to  blast  and  shatter  and  find  free- 
dom for  our  Belgica  if  embraced  by  the  Frost  King. 

Although  we  do  not  expect  to  hunt  seals  or  whales 
or  anything  else  for  commercial  purposes,  the  expe- 
dition is  well  prepared  to  take  all  kinds  of  life  for 
scientific  study.     We  have  boom  and  harpoon  guns 

53 


measured  depths  ol  tne  soumern  uLCdn  wm  u^  i^x 
the  first  time  possible. 

The  new  science  of  oceanography,  or  as  Lieuten- 
ant Maury,  its  father,  called  it,  **  the  geography  of 

54 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

the  sea,"  has  been  constantly  in  mind  in  the  organi- 
sation and  equipment  of  the  Belgica.  The  outfit  for 
fishing  partly  belongs  to  this  department;  unique 
devices  for  sounding  the  ocean  in  all  depths  by  the 
Monacho  machine  (with  pianoforte  wire  and  steel 
rope  as  a  line,  sinkers  which  detach  automatically, 
and  a  complicated  system  of  special  steam  machinery) 
is  now  adjusted,  ready  for  use.  We  expect  to  study 
the  submarine  currents,  temperature,  and  the  com- 
position of  the  water.  For  all  of  this,  we  have 
special  apparatus,  perhaps  not  interesting  to  the 
average  reader  in  a  description,  but  the  results  are 
sure  to  add  a  new  and  startling  chapter  to  the  grow- 
ing annals  of  ocean  science. 

The  laboratory  is  in  a  small,  specially  constructed 
deckhouse  behind  the  foremast.  Its  dimensions  are 
small,  perhaps  fifteen  feet  long  and  twelve  feet  wide, 
but  its  capacity  for  storing  instruments,  and  its  con- 
venience for  work  is  phenomenal.  It  is  intended  as 
the  centre  for  all  scientific  work,  a  sort  of ''union 
den  "  for  the  working  staff,  as  the  motto  painted  in 
large  letters  over  the  window  ''L  Union  Fait 
L! Force''  indicates.  It  will,  however,  be  principally 
used  for  meteorologic,  oceanographic,  and  zoological 
investigations.  When  one  first  steps  into  the  labo- 
ratory, there  creeps  over  one  a  fear  to  move,  for 
everything  seems  a  frail  meshwork  of  glass  ;  straight 
and  spiral  tubes,  glass  cylinders,  thermometers, 
barometers,  test  tubes,  bottles,  and  glass  articles, 
too  numerous  to  mention,  are  attached  to  all  the 
available  surface  on  the  walls,  the  shelves  and  even 
the   ceiling.     At  first  appearance  one  would   pro- 

55 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

nounce  the  frail  fixtures  short-lived,  and  it  certainly 
seems  as  if  a  single  sharp  toss  or  sudden  pitch  of  the 
ship  would  send  the  whole  glassy  splendour  in  frag- 
ments to  the  floor.  The  vessel,  however,  has  rolled  for 
three  months  on  the  destructive  swell  of  the  Atlantic, 
and,  thanks  to  the  carefully  planned  attachments,  very 
few  instruments  have  been  broken ;  so  we  have 
reason  to  hope  from  this  experience  that  the  ice  will 
not  be  more  injurious. 

A  very  complete  library  is  on  board.  It  is  a 
library,  like  the  men,  of  various  tongues,  and  descrip- 
tive of  a  great  variety  of  subjects.  Each  depart- 
ment has  its  technical  bibliography.  The  Com- 
mandant and  the  writer  have  a  general  collection  of 
all  the  antarctic  narratives  in  all  tongues.  The 
Captain  has  a  heap  of  charts  and  books  on  naviga- 
tion ;  Lieutenant  Danco  has  everything  pertaining 
to  terrestrial  magnetism.  The  general  scientific 
library  is  indeed  a  cosmopolitan  collection.  It  con- 
tains books  in  French,  English,  German,  Polish, 
Norwegian,  and  Rumanian  print.  In  addition  to 
serious  literature,  we  have  other  books  and  maga- 
zines of  lighter  character.  But  these  float  about, 
from  the  laboratory  to  the  cabin,  and  then  to  the 
forecastle,  always  in  the  hands  of  those  whose  spirits 
need  elevating.  Weeklies  with  unusually  good  pic- 
tures, such  as  half  tones  of  beautiful  women,  theatric 
or  opera  scenes  are  reserved  and  served  after  dinner 
as  a  kind  of  entertainment. 

The  quarters  for  officers  and  men  are  fairly  good 
—  palatial,  as  comfort  is  measured  on  a  sealer.  The 
Commandant  has  a  neat  little  room  behind  the  miz- 

56 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

zenmast,  opposite  to  the  kitchen.  It  is  carpeted, 
nicely  furnished,  and  the  walls  are  artistically  be- 
decked by  old  Dutch  sketches,  some  paintings,  and 
many  photographs  of  polar  scenes.  We  are  so 
pressed  for  space,  that  we  are  told  even  this  room 
will  be  partly  filled  with  coal  at  Punta  Arenas.  The 
cabin  is  well  aft ;  like  the  laboratory,  the  Comman- 
dant's room,  and  the  kitchen,  it  is  on  deck.  As  we 
enter,  to  the  right  of  the  engines  are  the  berths  of 
the  Captain  and  the  mates,  where  they  have  the 
soot,  steam,  and  smoke  of  the  engine-room  to  im- 
press upon  them  the  importance  of  their  work,  while 
the  noise  is  such  that  prolonged  sleep  is  impossible. 
The  cabin  is  small,  but  full  of  comfort.  It  is  as  if 
eight  men  stood  up  around  a  small  table,  and  a  box 
were  built  around  them,  the  corners  and  walls  and 
ceiling  being  Hned  with  books  and  instruments.  It 
is  not  a  very  joyful  place  in  the  tropics,  but  when  an 
endless  sea  of  ice  surrounds  us,  and  the  wind  is 
blowing,  and  the  decks  are  covered  with  snow,  then, 
with  steaming  food  on  the  table,  we  shall  find  its 
true  value. 

A  door  through  the  left  of  the  cabin  opens  into  an 
aisle,  to  the  side  of  which  are  the  four  berths  where 
the  devotees  of  science  sleep.  The  sides  are  thought- 
fully lined  with  lockers,  but  every  nook,  the  beds, 
the  ceiling,  and  at  times  even  the  floor,  is  covered 
with  clothing,  instruments  and  books.  After  a 
storm  it  is  a  sad  rivalry  in  hopeless  entangle- 
ment. The  forecastle  occupies  the  space  between 
decks  from  the  foremast  to  the  stem.  It  is  large, 
light,  and,  compared  with  the  officers'  quarters,  ex- 

57 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

tremely  comfortable.  We  speak  French  in  the 
cabin,  German  and  French  in  the  laboratory,  and  a 
mixture  of  English,  Norwegian,  French,  and  German 
in  the  forecastle.  The  life  and  order  on  board  of 
the  Belgica  is  that  of  a  well-regulated  family.  Each 
man  has  his  duties  to  perform,  but  he  will  also  be 
expected  to  lend  a  brotherly  hand  to  his  companions 
as  occasion  may  require.  On  clear  evenings  the 
music-box  is  often  brought  up  on  deck,  and  as  the 
familiar  tunes  bound  out  into  the  strangely  clear 
atmosphere,  some  sing,  others  dance ;  some  walk 
about,  and  still  others  play  games.  The  scene  is 
truly  melancholy  upon  reflection.  We  are  going 
farther  and  farther  away  from  home  to  the  most 
desolate  and  forbidding  part  of  the  known  or  the 
unknown  world.  Our  return  is  uncertain,  our  future 
is  dark  ;  but  we  have  set  out  with  this  knowledge  be- 
fore us,  and  now  it  is  our  duty  to  aid  in  keeping  up 
the  general  family  cheerfulness.  Whatever  else 
may  be  our  future  success  or  failure,  our  domestic 
comforts  are  assured.  When  we  assemble  on  deck 
after  dinner,  with  the  music  to  draw  out  a  general 
feeling  of  well-being,  a  generous  and  unanimous  air 
of  joy  rises  with  the  ascending  dew  of  the  setting 
sun  of  the  South  Atlantic. 


58 


CHAPTER  V 

MONTEVIDEO  TO   PUNTA  ARENAS 

PuNTA  Arenas,  Dec.  14,  1897. 
The  Belgica  raised  her  anchor  and  steamed 
out  of  the  harbour  of  Montevideo  Sunday,  No- 
vember 14,  1897.  We  were  showered  with  the  good 
wishes  of  the  people,  and  loaded  with  the  good 
things  of  the  land.  The  entire  Belgian  colony  fol- 
lowed us  far  out  into  the  stream  to  bid  us  a  final 
adieu,  while  the  officers  and  men  were  kept  closely 
occupied  in  answering  the  various  signal  salutations 
of  the  many  neighbouring  vessels  as  we  passed. 
The  deck  strewn  with  provisions,  hastily  assembled 
at  the  last  moment  and  alive  with  visitors,  was  a 
picture  to  send  a  thrill  to  the  heart  of  a  navigator 
about  to  encounter  the  worst  sea  on  earth ;  but  the 
happy  disposition  instilled  by  our  congenial  friends 
made  us  forget,  for  a  time,  all  cares  for  the  future. 
Soon  we  ploughed  across  the  choppy  waters  of  the 
River  Plata  under  an  uncomfortable  series  of  squalls 
which  seemed  to  come  with  a  hiss  and  a  force  like 
bombs  from  a  cannon.  Before  sunset  we  had  left 
the  low,  blue  line  of  hills  which  mark  the  northern 
banks  of  the  river  and  the  site  of  Montevideo,  far 

59 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

under  the  northern  horizon.  We  were  again  on  our 
way  to  the  snowy  bottom  of  the  globe,  with  inten- 
tions to  stop  by  the  wayside  at  the  world's  jumping- 
off-place,  Punta  Arenas. 

On  the  following  morning  a  heavy  sea  was  pound- 
ing our  port-bow,  giving  a  quick  lift,  and  permitting 
a  sudden  fall,  to  which  our  stomachs  seriously  ob- 
jected. The  sky  was  clothed  with  gloomy  clouds 
having  hard,  zigzag  edges  like  the  margins  of  torn 
sheets  of  lead.  We  were,  to  all  appearances,  far  out 
in  the  open  expanse  of  the  broad  Atlantic,  but,  in 
reality,  we  were  still  in  the  mouth  of  the  River 
Plata, —  which  accounted  for  the  warm  humid  winds 
driving  over  our  starboard.  Much  of  the  day  was 
spent  in  an  examination  and  rearrangement  of  our 
newly  acquired  equipage  and  provisions.  It  was  to 
me  a  matter  of  agreeable  surprise  to  find  among 
these  so  many  of  the  fruits  and  vegetables  common 
to  the  New  York  market ;  but  this  is  explained  by 
the  fact  that  Uruguay  is  a  land  of  perpetual  summer, 
where  winter  frosts  are  nearly  unknown.  The  time 
of  our  visit  was  the  spring  of  the  southern  hemisphere, 
November  15th,  in  the  south,  corresponding  to  May 
15th,  in  the  north;  and  while  fruit  and  vegetable 
products  are  plentiful  through  the  year,  they  are 
particularly  delicious  at  this  time.  We  had  straw- 
berries, cherries,  apples,  lettuce,  radishes,  peas,  beans, 
artichokes,  new  potatoes,  cabbage,  and  a  long  list 
of  other  fresh  productions.  There  is,  however,  one 
great  anomaly  in  the  food  supply  of  South  Amer- 
ica ;  it  is  the  difficulty  of  obtaining  fresh  milk  and 
the  impossibility  of  securing  good  butter. 

60 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

This  is  particularly  surprising  in  view  of  the  fact 
that,  in  Uruguay  and  Argentina,  cattle  farming  is 
at  once  one  of  the  principal  industries  and  a  source 
of  the  principal  wealth  of  the  countries.  That  good 
butter  and  excellent  milk  could  be  made  under  com- 
petent management  is  unquestionable.  At  Buenos 
Aires  several  successful  efforts  have  been  made,  and 
the  best  results  have  followed  the  efforts  of  a  mis- 
sionary who  has  taken  to  the  management  of 
cows  in  preference  to  the  more  difficult  task  of 
reforming  Spanish  American  sins. 

In  the  absence  of  butter  one  is,  however,  not  so 
seriously  disappointed  after  he  is  accustomed  to  the 
Spanish  substitute,  '' dnlce  de  lee  he,''  a  sort  of  con- 
fection of  milk.  Mrs.  Huysman,  the  wife  of  a  prom- 
inent Belgian  of  Montevideo,  had  presented  the  ex- 
pedition with  a  liberal  supply  of  this,  and  after  one 
or  two  introductions  it  proved  quite  a  delicacy. 
Dulee  de  leche  is  a  kind  of  sweet  paste  of  the  consis- 
tency of  lard;  at  ordinary  temperature  it  has  a  straw 
colour  and  no  distinct  odour.  It  is  made  of  condensed 
milk,  cane  sugar  and  the  marrow  of  the  largest  beef 
bones,  the  ingredients  being  worked  together  in  a 
smooth  homogeneous  mixture,  and  then  sealed  in 
small  tin  cans.  In  this  form  it  is  much  in  use,  and 
can  be  obtained  throughout  all  of  southern  South 
America.  The  mixture  is  extremely  nutritious,  and 
aside  from  its  position  as  a  substitute  for  butter  it 
has  evidently  special  values  of  its  own.  I  see  no 
reason  why  it  could  not  be  introduced  with  advan- 
tage into  the  United  States. 

On  the  morning  of  the  i6th,  the  sky  was  clear  of 

6i 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

the  heavy  clouds  which  descend  with  the  stream  of 
the  Rio  de  la  Plata.  There  was  a  little  air,  dry 
and  pleasant,  coming  from  the  Patagonian  pampas 
over  our  western  horizon.  The  sea  was  a  joy  to 
behold.  Its  surface  was  like  a  sheet  of  silver,  glassy 
and  luminous,  with  long,  easy  and  regular  undulations. 
Through  these  the  Belgica  steamed  with  a  grace 
and  ease  quite  befitting  a  pleasure  yacht.  Under 
the  inspiration  of  the  morning,  we  were  prepared  to 
deny  the  evil  reports  so  often  made  of  these  waters. 
That  such  an  easy  sea,  and  such  a  heavenly  sky 
could  in  a  short  time  be  transformed  into  a  howling 
mockery  by  the  storm  demons,  did  not  seem,  to  our 
innocent  trust  in  nature,  a  possibility ;  but  the 
afternoon  brought  with  it  signs  of  uneasiness.  The 
steady  air  from  the  west  ceased,  and  little  breezes 
followed  from  all  parts  of  the  compass.  The  exquis- 
ite bright  blueness  of  the  sky  changed  to  a  smoky 
blue ;  but  at  two  o'clock  there  were  no  clouds  and 
nothing  on  the  horizon  to  indicate  danger.  The 
atmosphere  became  quickly  humid  and  heavy, 
making  respiration  seem  difficult,  while  the  barom- 
eter was  spasmodically  rising  and  falling.  That 
there  was  some  unusual  phenomenon  which  we 
were  about  to  witness,  we  felt  convinced,  but  we 
were  long  in  getting  hints  as  to  its  nature. 

At  about  four  o'clock  a  sharp  dark  line,  like  a 
perfectly  straight  bar  of  iron,  was  seen  over  the 
southern  horizon.  It  rose  with  wondrous  rapidity 
and  as  it  ascended  above  this  central  bar  there 
swelled  out  a  perfectly  smooth  and  even  roll  of  weirdly 
luminous  vapour.    Across  the  rounded  surface  were 

62 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

small,  ragged  films  of  intense  white  and  steel  gray- 
passing  with  lightning  haste,  and  this  gave  the  upper 
line  an  awe-inspiring  appearance.  Under  the  central 
bar  the  cloud  was  of  a  dark  steel  gray,  but  we  could 
at  no  time  see  the  sky,  or  even  the  horizon  under 
the  advancing  commotion.  We  were  intensely  in- 
terested in  the  sight,  but  it  did  not  seem  to  us  par- 
ticularly dangerous,  nor  did  it  strike  the  sailors  with 
the  terror  which  I  have  seen  less  imposing  sky- 
effects  produce.  The  strangeness  of  the  sight,  how- 
ever, put  the  officers  on  guard,  and  every  surface  of 
sail  that  could  be  taken  in  was  at  once  furled.  The 
sea  now  began  to  rise  and  it  was  strange  to  watch 
it.  It  first  boiled,  apparently  without  wind,  into 
short  waves.  This  the  following  wind  straightened 
out  like  the  wrinkles  of  a  cloth  under  a  smoothing- 
iron.  Then  other  waves  rose  too  high  and  too  solid 
for  the  wind  to  flatten.  These  increased  in  size,  and 
multiplied  in  numbers,  and  rushed  towards  us  in 
huge  coils  of  spray.  The  Belgica  pitched  and 
tumbled  in  the  resulting  sea,  but  as  yet  no  wind  had 
struck  her.  The  water  and  the  air  were  lighted  with  a 
sort  of  vague  pearly  glow.  At  this  time  the  strange 
line  seemed  just  over  our  bowsprit,  and  extended 
entirely  across  the  heavens  from  east  to  west,  but 
only  a  little  draught  of  air  crossed  the  bridge. 

I  turned  to  watch  the  men  who  had  suddenly  left 
their  work  and  were  coming  down  from  the  rigging. 
All  at  once  the  bark  was  struck  with  terrific  force, 
and  stopped  as  suddenly  as  if  she  had  struck  a  stone 
wall;  this  was  followed  by  a  howling,  maddening 
noise  as  the  wind  passed  through  the  ropes  and 

63 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

spars  such  as  I  had  never  heard  before  or  since. 
Everybody  grasped  a  bar  or  a  rope  to  keep  from  being 
swept  overboard.  The  bark,  after  the  first  thud, 
raised  her  bow  and  drove  her  stern  into  the  boihng 
sea,  and  then  righted,  seemingly  prepared  for  the 
next  assauh.  After  a  few  other,  but  lesser,  puffs, 
the  wind  came  with  a  steady  hiss  —  like  steam  from 
an  exhaust  pipe,  and  its  force  was  expended  with 
the  same  rapidity  with  which  it  fell  upon  us.  From 
the  commencement  to  the  termination  this  strange 
onslaught  occupied  but  fifteen  minutes ;  but  this  was 
as  much  as  I  care  to  see  of  a  hurricane  of  this  sort, 
though  they  are  sufficiently  prevalent  in  this  region 
to  receive  the  special  local  name  oi  pamperos.  A 
pampero  is  apt  to  leave  a  lasting  impression  on 
one's  mind,  and  on  the  Belgica  we  date  all  of  our 
events  from  the  time  of  its  occurrence. 

For  a  few  days  following  the  pampero  we  were 
gliding  along  the  coast  of  Patagonia,  but  out  of 
sight  of  land,  under  the  most  beautiful  skies  and  in 
the  most  delightful  weather  imaginable.  Pleasant 
weather,  however,  makes  the  life  of  a  sailor  monoto- 
nous and  far  from  enjoyable,  because  it  affords  time 
and  opportunity  to  mend  and  dress  and  polish  the 
ship.  Such  was  the  work  of  the  crew  here.  The 
tropical  sun  had  brought  out  some  of  the  oil  and  not 
a  little  of  the  fishy  odour  with  which  years  of  blubber 
hunting  had  filled  her.  The  paint,  also,  which  had 
been  piled  on  in  different  colours,  year  after  year, 
came  off  in  large  sheets  like  the  bark  of  a  dead  tree. 
To  mend  and  dress  the  Belgica,  then,  in  a  suitable 
garb  for  the  perpetual  frost  of  the  south  pole  was  a 
matter  of  considerable  work. 

64 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

The  skin  of  the  bark  was  scraped,  and  painted,  and 
varnished,  and  poHshed,  new  sails  were  fitted,  old 
ones  repaired,  and  all  of  the  sailing  gear  was 
strengthened  for  the  expected  blasts  south  of  Cape 
Horn.  Waterproof  covers  were  made  for  the  vari- 
ous bits  of  machinery  and  the  instruments  openly 
exposed  on  deck.  Between  decks  the  provisions 
were  being  examined  and  restored.  Supplies  and 
equipments  were  put  aside  for  a  wintering  party  in 
the  antarctic.  The  cabins  and  the  forecastles  were 
to  be  cleared  and  altered  for  more  prolonged  habi- 
tation, and  the  hammocks  were  put  away,  not  to  be 
used  again  for  a  long  time.  Henceforth  we  must 
take  to  our  berths,  which  are  like  hermetically 
sealed  cans.  These  bunks  have  been  made  to  fit 
each  man,  in  length  and  breadth,  according  to  care- 
ful measurement.  The  result  is  that  the  fit  is  like 
that  of  a  snug  boot,  but  the  comparison  is  hardly 
admissible,  since  a  neat-fitting  boot  flatters  vanity, 
and  pleases  the  eye ;  but  where  are  the  joys  of  a 
boot  for  a  bed  ?  I  must  hasten  to  add  that  such  an 
economy  of  room  was  necessary ;  but,  unfortunately, 
either  the  beds  had  shortened,  or  the  men  had 
lengthened,  for  two  men  presently  complained  that 
their  bunks  were  now  six  inches  too  short. 

The  pleasant  dispositions  and  the  regular  daily  oc- 
cupations, which  come  with  continued  fair  weather, 
were  abruptly  set  aside  on  November  26th.  Our 
eyes  in  the  morning  opened  under  a  sky  dark,  gray, 
and  gloomy.  This  was  soon  enlivened  by  wildly 
moving  cloudy  streamers,  under  which  the  sea  tum- 
bled in  huge  cliffs,  and  our  stomachs  raised  in  long 
reaches.    Mai  de  mer  was  the  openly  acknowledged 

65 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

pastime  of  the  hour,  and  it  seemed  to  be  in  evidence 
in  direct  proportion  to  the  mental  development  of 
the  personnel.  The  Captain,  for  example,  was  the 
first  victim,  and  he  was  followed  by  the  most  capa- 
ble sympathisers  of  the  etat  major.  These  were 
followed  by  the  ordinary  seamen,  the  man  of  lowest 
mental  development  being  usually  the  last  to  loosen 
the  gastric  bonds.  Let  this  be  a  comfort  to  victims 
of  Neptune. 

The  wind  poured  upon  us  in  hard,  steady  blasts 
from  the  south-west  for  nearly  two  days,  which  gave 
us,  on  our  growing  menu,  a  taste  of  the  normal 
weather  of  the  ''roaring  forties" — a  relish  which  a 
heavy  lumbering  sealing  craft  is  apt  to  impress  upon 
the  memory.  We  were  hungry  for  the  sight  of 
land,  which  the  Captain  had  been  promising  us  as  an 
appetiser  from  hour  to  hour  ;  for  we  had  been  a  fort- 
night without  seeing  anything  but  the  blackness  and 
blueness  of  the  Patagonian  sea,  and  anything  in  the 
form  of  land  would  have  been  a  feast  to  our  eyes. 

Early  in  the  morning  of  November  29th  a  low 
straight  line,  like  a  huge  beam  of  wood,  appeared  to 
separate  the  grayness  of  the  sky  from  the  soft  blue 
waters  in  the  south-west.  It  proved  to  be  the  north- 
ern cape  of  the  eastern  entrance  of  the  Strait  of 
Magellan, —  Cape  Virgins.  The  name  is  fascinating 
when  one  feels  he  is  at  the  world's  end,  and  land  in 
any  form  in  this  locality  is  an  encouragement,  but 
there  is  nothing  about  the  topography  of  Cape  Vir- 
gins which  would  arouse  much  admiration.  It  is  a 
long,  sandy  cliff  one  hundred  and  thirty-five  feet 
high,  its  base  descending  perpendicularly  into  the 

66 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

sea  with  the  interruption  of  an  occasional  shingle 
point,  where  it  appears  as  if  a  boat  might  make  a 
landing.  Its  colour  varies  much  with  the  position  of 
the  sun,  the  character  of  the  atmosphere,  and  the 
cloudiness  of  the  sky.  As  we  approached,  it  at  first 
appeared  nearly  white,  with  occasional  dark  shadows 
when  the  surface  was  uneven,  and  the  entire  wall 
was  crested  by  a  thin  but  smooth  line  of  green  grass. 
At  this  time  the  direct  beams  fell  upon  the  coast 
from  the  sun,  still  low  on  the  eastern  skies.  A  few 
hours  later,  when  we  were  nearer  and  the  sun  was 
under  a  light  cloud,  the  cliff  appeared  like  a  wall  of 
terra  cotta.  The  cape  is  the  seaward  termination 
of  a  long  range  of  low  hills  extending  across 
Patagonia. 

Cape  Virgins  is  one  of  the  most  important  land- 
marks on  the  Atlantic  seaboard,  and  its  discovery 
marked  the  beginning  of  the  most  important  period 
of  maritime  adventures  in  the  history  of  navigation. 
Before  we  pass  it,  and  enter  the  now  famous  Strait, 
permit  me  to  give  a  few  incidents  in  the  story  of  the 
discovery  of  this  cape  and  the  hard-earned  but  tri- 
umphant entrance  into  the  narrow  path  which  per- 
mitted the  first  circumnavigation.  The  credit  be- 
longs to  a  Portuguese,  Fernao  de  Magalhaes,  and  the 
honour  belongs  to  Spain,  for  the  expedition  was  un- 
der the  patronage  of  the  Spanish  crown. 

Magalhaes  assembled  his  fleet  at  San  Julian  on 
the  Patagonian  coast,  Easter  Eve,  in  the  year  1520. 
Here  he  spent  the  few  months  of  southern  winter, 
from  April  to  October.  During  this  time  he  first 
saw,  and  his  historians  first  described,  the  pampa 

67 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

Indians  whom,  because  of  their  loosely  booted  feet, 
they  gave  the  ill-fitting  name  of  Pata-gones  :  a  name 
which  all  the  world  of  women  should  detest,  for  it 
means  clumsy-hoofed.  From  this  first  designation 
given  to  the  people  the  entire  country  from  the  Plata 
to  the  Strait,  has  been  given  the  name  of  Patagonia. 
Patagonia,  then,  fully  translated,  means  the  land  of 
the  clumsy-hoofed  people.  This  is  unkind  when,  in 
reality,  the  Indians  of  this  region  have  feet  which 
are  not  only  smaller,  but  far  neater  in  shape  than 
those  of  Europeans  of  the  same  size  and  weight.  At 
this  anchorage  Magalhaes  had  some  trouble  with  his 
officers  who  committed  the  unpardonable  crime  of 
differing  from  him  in  their  opinions.  To  one  of  these 
men  a  letter  was  sent  with  a  messenger  who  had  in- 
structions to  stab  him  while  reading.  Other  officers 
were  executed  with  similar  despatch.  Magalhaes 
was  evidently  a  good  representative  of  the  saints  of 
his  day,  upholding  the  church  with  one  hand,  and 
committing  the  blackest  deeds  of  Satan  with  the 
other. 

On  October  21st,  Magalhaes  entered  the  Strait  for 
which  he  had  searched  and,  though  he  had  killed 
some  of  his  officers  but  a  short  time  previous  in  a 
manner  which  would  now  be  considered  premeditated 
murder,  he  honoured  the  saints  by  calling  the  chan- 
nel Canal  de  Todos  los  Santos  —  Canal  of  all  the 
Saints.  The  cape  on  his  starboard,  as  he  entered, 
was  named  the  Cape  of  the  Eleven  Thousand  Vir- 
gins, in  honour  of  the  day  on  which  it  was  discovered, 
St.  Ursula's  day.  Succeeding  generations  have 
thought  less  of  the  saints  and  more  of  Magalhaes, 

68 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

and  have  named  the  canal  in  honour  of  its  discoverer, 
but  even  the  discoverer's  name  has  changed  with 
time,  for  to-day  we  write  Strait  of  Magellan,  and  not 
Magalhaes.  The  cape  has  also  suffered  a  change  by 
the  later  and  less  religious  geographers.  Eleven 
Thousand  Virgins,  even  as  a  name,  is  too  flowery  for 
a  Cape  Horn  sand-bank,  and  furthermore  it  was  the 
hunting  ground  of  a  people  among  whom  the  term 
virgin  would  be  useless.  Just  at  present  this  point 
of  land  is  charted  Cape  Virgins,  and  its  virgin  soil 
is  being  broken  by  thrifty  gold  diggers. 

Returning  to  our  present  voyage  and  to  the  less 
sentimental,  and  less  brutal,  but  I  fear  less  religious 
modern  times,  the  Belgica  has  not  only  no  one  to  fill 
the  chaplain's  duties,  but,  so  far  as  I  know,  only  one 
Bible  (which  is  kept  under  cover)  and  no  prayer 
book.  Religion  is  apparently  not  one  of  our  mis- 
sions. But  then  I  must  hasten  to  add  that  on  expe- 
ditions of  this  kind  land  pilots  are  more  necessary 
than  *'  sky  pilots." 

At  noon  we  rounded  the  low  sandy  bar  extend- 
ing southward  from  Cape  Virgins  terminating  in 
Dungeness  Point,  and  entered  the  historic  Strait  of 
Magellan.  The  eastern  beach  was  strewn  with  frag- 
ments of  iron  from  the  hull  of  the  iron  vessel  Cleo- 
patray  which  was  one  of  the  many  vessels  wrecked 
here.  The  skeleton  of  the  Cleopatra  was  still  fight- 
ing the  sea  some  distance  off  shore,  and  presented  a 
picture  which  would  run  into  delight  under  the  brush 
of  an  artist.  The  western  shore  of  the  point  was 
strewn  with  fragments  of  wooden  vessels,  and  two 
hulls  well  ashore  rocked  like  cradles,  but  were  ap- 

69 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

parently  not  much  injured.     This  point  seems  to  be 
a  convenient  graveyard  for  marine  crafts. 

To  our  south  under  a  dark  bank  of  cumulus 
clouds  was  the  white  cliff  of  Cape  Espirito  Santo, 
which,  like  Cape  Virgins,  is  the  termination  of  a 
long  range  of  hills  on  Tierra  del  Fuego.  The 
waters  were  alive  with  innumerable  forms  of  life, 
many  of  which  were  new  to  us.  Whales,  seals,  por- 
poises and  penguins  were  darting  about  in  the  sea 
like  birds  in  the  air,  while  resting  on  the  glassy  sur- 
face, hovering  over  the  land,  rushing  over  and 
around  the  Belgica  were  strange  mernbers  of  the 
feathered  tribe  ;  among  these,  albatrosses,  gulls,  pe- 
trels, ducks,  and  geese  were  most  numerous.  The 
profusion  of  animal  life  around  us,  the  blackness  of 
the  lowlands  to  each  side,  and  the  encouraging 
prospect  of  the  channel  before  us,  furnished  a  sort 
of  wild  fascination  which  is  probably  as  great  in  our 
day  as  in  the  time  of  the  early  pioneers. 

Passing  westward  we  had,  by  midnight,  reached 
the  entrance  of  the  first  narrows.  Here  we  an- 
chored for  the  night.  For  three  long  months  we 
had  gone  steadily  and  persistently  southward  in  one 
general  direction  ;  such  a  monotony  of  course  draws 
the  Atlantic  out  into  an  unimaginable  length,  but 
now  we  were  headed  westward,  away  from  the 
Atlantic  with  its  fickle  winds  to  the  more  friendly 
Pacific  ;  and  our  course  in  the  future  will  be  more 
varied  —  a  circumstance  which  seems  to  arouse  an 
agreeable  train  of  thoughts.  These  thoughts,  with 
the  peculiar  and  continual  interest  of  the  scenes 
around  the  ship,  kept  us  awake  for  a  large  part  of 
our  first  night  in  the  Strait. 

70 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

From  time  to  time  I  left  my  bunk  and  paced  the 
poop  that  I  might  better  see  the  wide  panorama 
under  the  varying  shades  of  the  night.  There  were 
marvellous  changes  in  colour  and  in  the  general  as- 
pect of  the  land,  with  imperceptible  changes  of  light. 
This  I  had  noticed  earlier  in  the  day  and  it  con- 
tinued throughout  the  night ;  but  of  this  I  can  hope 
to  give  only  a  crude  outline,  for  the  delicate  shades 
of  colour  and  the  infinitesimal  grades  of  light  cannot 
be  spread  out  with  black  and  white  under  a  quill. 
As  the  sun  sank  behind  the  hazy  outline  of  the 
Cordilleras  Mountains,  over  the  Patagonian  pampas, 
the  grassy  surface  everywhere  assumed  a  bright 
yellow  tint,  in  harmony  with  the  gold  which  is  now 
scraped  from  the  ground.  The  sandy  cliffs  which 
walled  the  shores  were  inky  black  on  the  north,  and 
bright  gray  or  brown  on  the  south.  The  water  re- 
tained its  dark  green  hue  until  the  semi-luminous, 
semi-liquid,  purple  of  the  long  twilight  flooded  the 
whole  scene.  Then  followed  the  short  blackness  of 
the  night  which  again  blended  into  an  exquisite 
purple  morning.  As  the  sun  rose  over  the  cliff  of 
Cape  Virgins,  the  vast  treeless  plains  were  marked 
into  sharp  figures  of  brown  and  yellow  and  red. 
Hence  these  regions,  like  tastefully  dressed  women, 
have  a  special  dress  for  every  part  of  the  day,  and 
this  garb  changes  the  appearance  of  landmarks  in 
such  a  manner  that  at  times  they  are  difficult  of 
recognition.  I  will  not  force  the  parallel  —  but  thus 
in  one  of  the  elements  of  beauty  in  this  Strait,  lies 
one  of  its  greatest  dangers  to  navigation. 

We  tipped  our  anchor  in  the  morning  and  ad- 
vanced to  the  mouth  of  the  second  narrows,  where 

71 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

we  anchored  at  4  p.m.,  December  ist.  Here  we 
learned  from  the  latest  budget  of  the  French  coast- 
pilot  that  there  was  a  French  settlement,  and  from 
the  Belgica  a  number  of  farm-houses  were  visible, 
which  seemed  to  confirm  the  information.  We  ac- 
cordingly prepared  to  pay  the  occupants  a  visit,  and 
also  to  search  the  surrounding  territory  for  speci- 
mens. Landing  in  the  bend  of  Gregory  Bay  with  a 
corps  of  scientific  collectors,  hunters  and  sailors,  all  of 
an  adventurous  turn  of  mind,  we  soon  spread  over 
the  grassy  pampas  in  every  direction.  Three  of  us 
who  went  to  visit  the  farm-houses  soon  discovered 
that  the  coast-pilot's  information  was  not  up  to  date. 
The  Frenchmen  in  question  had  disappeared  about 
ten  years  previous,  and  the  entire  region,  practically 
everything  within  sight,  belongs  to  a  very  wealthy 
Chilean  sheep  farmer,  by  the  name  of  Menendez. 

At  the  first  farm-house  we  found  a  couple  of 
Scotch  shepherds  who  informed  us  that  the  main 
station  of  the  farm  was  a  few  miles  east,  and  to 
reach  this  they  offered  us  horses.  The  Captain  and 
I  accepted  and  were  soon  mounted,  but  before  we 
returned  we  had  some  regrets.  The  animals  ob- 
jected to  their  burdens  from  first  to  last,  and  I  might 
add  that  we  objected  to  their  manners  at  once  and 
for  all  times.  Like  all  Patagonian  horses,  they  are 
trained  to  take  their  direction  by  the  throw  of  the 
reins,  and  not  by  the  traction  of  the  bit.  If  the  rein 
is  thrown  against  the  left  side  of  the  neck,  the  horse 
goes  to  the  right,  and  vice  versa.  It  is  hard  to 
adopt  the  method  at  once  without  a  certain  amount 
of  traction  on  the  bit  to  which  one  is  accustomed  ; 

72 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

but  this  lateral  traction  the  pampa  horses  will  not 
permit.  If  you  will  hold  a  tight  rein  you  must  hold 
it  with  equal  tension  on  both  sides,  and  hold  it 
steadily,  or  the  animal  will  stop  at  once,  and  perhaps 
with  such  suddenness  as  to  make  you  test  the  hard- 
ness of  the  ground.  The  horse  also  has  a  motion 
and  a  gait  which  are  absolutely  peculiar  to  the  pam- 
pas. These  peculiarities  soon  drive  chagrin  to  the 
heart  of  a  northern  horseman. 

We  galloped  eastward  in  a  beaten  path  close  to 
the  placid  waters  of  Magellan  Strait.  To  our  left 
were  a  low  series  of  hills — the  Gregory  Range — and 
behind  these  the  sun  had  fallen,  throwing  its  parting 
rays  on  the  shore-line  of  Tierra  del  Fuego  opposite, 
and  over  the-  distant  Fuegian  mountains.  The  nov- 
elty of  the  ride  and  the  fascination  of  the  scenery 
helped  us  to  forget  the  bruises  and  accumulating 
pain — of  which,  however,  we  were  forcibly  reminded 
later.  In  an  hour  we  reached  our  destination  and 
had  an  opportunity  to  see,  for  the  first  time,  one  of 
the  end-of-the-century  wonders, — the  re-discovery  of 
Patagonia  and  Tierra  del  Fuego  by  the  sheep  farm- 
ers. Here  were  the  men  by  whom,  and  the  method 
by  which,  the  hopeless  sterility  of  the  end  of  the 
continent  has  been  turned  into  a  field  of  industry 
with  a  farming  profit  perhaps  equalled  in  no  other 
part  of  the  world. 

A  young  man  with  a  sporting  air  advanced  from 
one  of  the  buildings  to  meet  us.  He  was  Alexander 
Menendez,  the  chief  of  the  place,  and  the  son  of  the 
Cape  Horn  Vanderbilt.  Spanish  is  the  official  lan- 
guage of  this  region,  but  neither  the  Captain  nor  I 

11 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

spoke  it,  and  thus  we  were  a  little  anxious  to  know 
the  tongue  in  which  we  might  interchange  ideas. 
We  could  handle  between  us  French,  Flemish,  Eng- 
lish, German,  and  Eskimo,  and  we  rather  flattered 
ourselves  that  the  man  who  could  not  converse  with 
us  in  one  of  these  tongues  could  have  few  ideas 
worthy  of  exchange.  We  had  no  need  for  anxiety, 
however,  for  our  new  host  spoke  English  and  Ger- 
man and  some  French,  in  addition  to  his  national 
tongue.  Indeed,  English  seems  to  be  the  general 
language  of  the  sheep  farmer.  Mr.  Menendez  took 
us  to  his  little  home,  a  one-story  wooden  building, 
with  three  or  four  rooms.  Our  mission  was  hardly 
more  than  a  formal  visit,  but  pampa  customs  are 
such  that  one  immediately  enters  into  the  inner  life 
of  the  ranchmen  from  which  it  is  difficult  to  separate 
quickly. 

Here  we  found  a  sheep  ranch  in  its  youth,  but  its 
proportions  were  already  such  as  to  startle  most 
North  American  farmers.  Upon  a  treeless  waste  of 
90,000  acres,  spread  out  in  easy  undulations  along 
the  Magellanic  waters,  were  120,000  sheep.  The 
climate  and  the  grass  are  such  that  the  animals  re- 
quire no  shelter  and  no  extra  feeding,  not  even  dur- 
ing the  coldest  winter  months,  and  they  are  so  nearly 
self-supporting  that  one  shepherd  manages  a  herd  of 
2,000  animals.  When  sheep  thus  thrive  and  mul- 
tiply at  next  to  no  expense,  and  on  ground  which 
was  first  obtained  for  the  asking  and  taxes,  it  is  not 
difficult  to  understand  the  success  of  Patagonian 
farmers. 

The  same  enterprising  Menendez  has  several  other 

74 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

farms,  the  most  promising  of  which  is  across  the 
Strait,  and  to  this  our  eyes  were  directed  with  con- 
siderable pride  by  our  host.  This  farm  occupies  the 
lowlands  of  north-eastern  Tierra  del  Fuego,  which  is 
said  to  be  the  best  sheep  land  of  the  entire  region. 
Here,  upon  about  120,000  acres,  there  are  150,000 
sheep  turning  wool  into  gold  faster  than  any  gold 
mines  could  be  expected  to  offer  yellow  metal. 

Mr.  Menendez,  however,  like  all  managers  of  great 
enterprises,  had  his  troubles :  "  Sheep  farming  is 
very  profitable,"  said  he,  ''but  we  have  one  great  diffi- 
culty— it  is  to  secure  good  help."  This  ought  to  be  a 
cheerful  notice  to  the  unemployed  thousands  of 
Europe  and  America,  but  it  should  be  accepted  with 
a  proper  appreciation  of  the  life  and  work  in  ques- 
tion. A  Patagonian  shepherd  lives  the  life  of  a  wild 
man.  In  the  saddle  he  roams  about  on  the  pampas 
with  his  sheep,  and  at  night  he  makes  camp  like  an 
Indian.  But  there  are  many  men  who  enjoy  just  such 
a  life,  and  for  such  there  is  plenty  of  room  in  this 
region.  The  usual  pay  is  about  thirty  dollars  (gold) 
per  month,  but  expenses  are  next  to  nothing,  and  an 
additional  income  is  added  to  the  regular  pay  by  the 
products  of  hunting,  such  as  ostrich  feathers,  guanaco 
skins,  etc.  The  men  at  present  employed  are  mostly 
Scotch  shepherds,  but  some  of  the  best  ranchmen 
have  been  made  from  ordinary  seamen.  In  the  newer 
methods  of  shearing  and  other  improved  mechanical 
contrivances,  machinists  and  other  artisans  are  in  de- 
mand. Many  of  the  men  who  have  come  here  as 
workmen  are  now  ranch-owners  themselves,  and  few 
who  have  once  tasted  the  elixir  of  pampa  life  ever 

75 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

leave  it  again  for  the  noise  and  the  strife  and  the 
gilded  ghtter  of  the  upper  world. 

When  we  again  mounted  our  horses  to  return,  we 
were  somewhat  disposed  to  lay  aside  polar  explora- 
tion and  become  sheep  farmers,  but  this  idea  was 
soon  dissipated  by  our  efforts  to  return  to  the  Belgica. 
The  purple  twilightwas  just  deepening  into  the  darker 
shades  of  night  as  we  left  the  little  group  of  buildings 
which  constitute  the  headquarters  of  the  Menendez 
ranch.  The  horses  seemed  more  than  ever  opposed 
to  their  inexperienced  riders,  and  our  discomfort  was 
such  that  we  did  not  hurry  them.  We  preferred  to 
leave  to  them  the  selection  of  the  path,  and  the  rate 
of  progress,  while  we  drank  in  the  sharp  antarctic  air 
and  enjoyed  the  glory  of  the  night  scene.  It  was 
nearly  midnight  when  we  reached  our  canoe.  Here 
we  found  our  companions  impatiently  waiting  for  us, 
some  seated  on  boulders,  others  stretched  out  on  the 
grass,  and  a  few  chatting  with  the  shepherds  in 
the  nearest  hut.  But  we  were  somewhat  dejected 
as  we  gazed  upon  the  sight  before  us ;  the  water  had 
run  out  with  the  tide  to  such  an  extent  as  to  leave 
our  boat  high  and  dry  some  three  or  four  hundred 
feet  from  the  nearest  launching-place.  Every  foot 
of  this  distance  had  on  it  a  covering  of  a  soft  semi- 
liquid  mixture  of  clay,  sand,  small  stones,  and  shell- 
fish. The  Belgica  must  start  with  the  tide  at  day- 
break, and  her  whistles  were  already  tooting  the 
signal  to  hasten  on  board.  To  wait  for  the  tide  was 
impossible,  so  we  started  our  canoe  over  the  debris. 
If  the  surface  had  been  tar  it  could  not  have  offered 
more  resistance,  nor  could  it  have  caused  more  dis- 

76 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

comfort.  After  an  hour  of  almost  superhuman  effort 
we  reached  the  water,  but  we  were  covered  with 
sHme  and  mud  and  perspiration  from  head  to  foot, 
and  we  agreed  that  our  first  Patagonian  debarkment 
was  a  decidedly  expensive  luxury. 

We  reached  the  Belgica  as  the  eastern  skies 
brightened  with  the  coming  morning  twilight.  The 
anchor  was  raised  immediately,  and  while  our  ach- 
ing muscles  were  resting,  we  were  transported 
through  the  second  narrows  to  Elizabeth  Island. 
In  three  hours  we  were  opposite  the  island  and  ac- 
cordingly prepared  for  another  debarkment.  Our 
object  in  stopping  here  was  principally  to  obtain  a 
supply  of  the  wild  geese  for  which  this  island  is 
noted.  We  landed  in  a  cave  near  a  lonely  shep- 
herd's hut,  and  scattered  over  the  island,  being  care- 
ful to  leave  two  men  to  keep  the  canoe  afloat  that 
we  might  not  renew  our  experience  of  the  previous 
night. 

We  found  the  geese  extremely  numerous,  but 
either  they  were  too  well  acquainted  with  firearms, 
or  our  workmen  had  been  too  long  seasick,  for,  from 
the  result  of  our  hunt,  we  were  able  to  produce  only 
a  dozen  birds.  Elizabeth  Island,  like  all  of  the  grassy 
ground  of  this  region,  is  devoted  to  the  interests  of 
sheepfarming.  It  is  upon  this  notable  island  that 
the  first  Magellanic  sheep-farming  experiment  was 
made.  Mr.  H.  I.  Reynard,  an  Englishman  living 
in  Punta  Arenas,  first  conceived  the  idea  early  in 
the  seventies.  Perceiving  that  sheep  and  cattle 
thrived  in  the  Falkland  Islands,  whose  climate  and 
vegetation  were  in  most  respects  similar  enough  to 

77 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

that  of  Elizabeth  Island  to  warrant  the  expenditure 
necessary  for  a  proper  trial,  he  accordingly  estab- 
lished here  the  first  sheep  colony.  The  sheep  took 
so  kindly  to  their  new  home,  and  multiplied  so 
rapidly  that,  though  the  island  is  eight  miles  long 
and  two  miles  wide,  it  was  very  quickly  so  thickly 
stocked  that  numbers  of  the  sheep  were  transferred 
to  the  mainland.  From  this  experiment  in  farming 
Mr.  Reynard  was  reported,  in  1894,  to  be  enjoying 
the  princely  income  of  a  hundred  thousand  dollars 
annually. 

Among  our  collections  from  this  island  were  a 
number  of  flint  arrows  and  spear  points,  which 
seem  to  be  abundant  in  the  numerous  heaps  of  mus- 
sel shells  and  other  sites  of  old  Indian  encampments. 
But  the  island  has  long  been  deserted  by  the  Ind- 
ians, for,  even  at  the  time  of  its  discovery  by  Drake, 
three  hundred  years  ago,  none  are  mentioned.  The 
discovery  and  naming  of  this  island  is  thus  described 
by  the  old  records:  ''The  24th  of  August  (1578) 
being  Bartholomew's  day,  we  fell  in  with  three 
islands  bearing  trianglewise  one  from  another ;  one 
of  them  was  very  fair  and  large  and  of  a  fruitful  soil, 
upon  which,  being  next  unto  us,  and  the  weather 
very  calm,  our  General  with  his  gentlemen  and 
certain  of  his  mariners  then  landed,  taking  posses- 
sion thereof  in  her  Majesty's  name,  and  to  her  use, 
and  calHng  the  same  Elizabeth  Island."  The  other 
islands  are  those  now  known  as  Santa  Marta,  and 
Santa  Magdalena  Islands,  upon  which  Drake  found 
penguins  so  numerous,  that,   in   one  day,    not  less 

78 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

than  three  thousand  were  taken  and  subsequently 
used  as  food. 

We  left  Elizabeth  Island  at  lo  o'clock  in  a  mist  of 
cold,  drizzly  rain  and  steered  westward  close  to  its 
low  sandy  cliffs.  The  mist  occasionally  raised  and 
gave  us  a  glimpse  of  the  land.  There  is  a  ridge  of 
small  hills  running  parallel  to  its  length  through  the 
centre,  the  highest  of  these  being  one  hundred  and 
eighty  feet  above  the  sea.  The  hills  were  made 
more  conspicuous  by  various  clusters  of  a  bluish 
shrub,  but  aside  from  these  there  were  no  trees  and 
nothing  but  the  hardy  pampa  grass  to  cover  the 
sandy  soil ;  nevertheless,  with  its  shepherds'  huts, 
and  its  vast  herds  of  sheep,  Elizabeth  Island  is  not 
without  an  air  of  attractiveness. 

At  noon  the  atmosphere  had  cleared  and  the  ever- 
present  dark,  feathery  clusters  of  vapour  shaded  the 
water  and  gave  it  a  despairing  blackness.  Over 
our  port  bow  a  low  buff-colored  point  extended  far 
out  into  the  widening  strait.  This  was  our  first 
sight  of  the  famous  Sandy  Point,  whose  notoriety  is 
sure  to  reach  the  ears  of  every  South  American 
voyager.  Here  also  we  noticed  a  striking  change 
in  the  topography  of  the  land  and  in  the  character 
of  the  vegetation.  We  had  left  the  smooth,  treeless 
pampas  behind  us,  and  before  us  appeared  a  wild 
rugged  country,  the  lowlands  covered  by  a  dense 
forest,  and  the  highlands  white  with  snow.  These 
were  the  foot-hills  of  the  terminating  Andes,  a 
place  well  calculated  to  shelter  the  Cape  Horn 
capital  from  the  never-ceasing  stormy  blasts. 

79 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

Early  in  the  afternoon  we  rounded  the  point  and 
at  four  o'clock  we  anchored  in  Sandy  Point  Road. 
The  harbour  presented  an  air  of  thrift  quite  out  of 
proportion  to  the  barrenness,  sterility  and  gloomy 
wildness  of  the  region.  Five  large  ocean  liners 
were  at  anchor,  and  many  small  coasting  steamers, 
with  a  host  of  lighters  and  small  crafts,  were  scat- 
tered about  on  the  unruly  waters ;  but  the  town 
from  its  distant  appearance  was  a  disappointment. 
One  hears  so  much  about  this  settlement,  its  rapid 
growth,  and  marvellous  development,  that  one  nat- 
urally expects  to  see  a  substantial  city.  ''Thirty 
years  ago,"  said  a  native,  *'  we  were  less  than  two 
hundred  settlers  here ;  to-day  we  number  six  thou- 
sand, and  you  have  before  you  a  good-sized  city. 
Don't  you  think  our  growth  has  been  remarkable 
and  quick  ? "  One  must  naturally  answer  in  the 
affirmative,  and  to  the  average  European  the  phe- 
nomenon is  wonderful;  but  to  an  American  it  is 
wonderful  in  quite  another  direction.  The  town  is  in 
most  respects  a  miniature  reproduction  of  the  mush- 
room town  of  the  western  states :  a  wilderness  of 
low  wooden  and  sheet-iron  huts  which  are  quickly 
and  cheaply  constructed  and  as  quickly  destroyed. 
Punta  Arenas  has  been  building  for  thirty  years. 
Towns  of  the  western  United  States  of  a  similar 
nature  spring  up  in  as  many  days.  A  Yankee,  then, 
wonders  not  at  the  reported  rapid  growth,  but  asks, 
"  Why  has  it  taken  so  long  ?  " 

After  we  became  accustomed  to  this  appearance 
of  cheapness  and  unstability  which  characterised  the 
place,  we  found  much  of  interest  and  some  things 

80 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

absolutely  astonishing.  Punta  Arenas  has  a  char- 
acter and  a  life  which  mark  it  at  once  as  one  of  the 
most  peculiar  towns  on  the  globe.  We  were  boarded 
long  before  we  came  to  anchor  by  agents  of  pro- 
vision houses,  boarding-houses,  hotels,  saloons,  and 
health  officers ;  but  strangely  enough  no  custom 
officers  paid  us  even  a  friendly  visit.  Our  business 
arrangements  and  not  a  few  social  arrangements 
had  been  made  by  Mr.  Racovitza,  who  had  preceded 
us,  and  shortly  after  we  came  to  anchor  w^e  made 
our  headquarters  in  the  little  French  Hotel  where  a 
welcome  bag  of  correspondence  awaited  our  arrival. 


8i 


CHAPTER  VI 

PUNTA  ARENAS,  THE  SOUTHERNMOST  TOWN 

UsHUAiA,  Dec.  2  2,  1897. 

We  decided,  before  we  left,  that  Punta  Arenas,  as 
a  town,  is  very  extraordinary  in  many  ways  when 
you  come  to  know  it.  Aside  from  the  fact  that  it  is 
the  world's  southernmost  city,  the  metropolis  of  the 
lower  end  of  the  American  continent,  the  dumping 
ground  for  so  much  of  discontented  humanity,  the 
capital  of  Chilean  Tierra  del  Fuego  and  Pata- 
gonia, and  a  host  of  other  large  sounding,  but  small 
meaning,  names, —  it  is  one  of  the  most  cosmopolitan 
towns  of  the  universe.  Its  life  and  its  business  are 
absolutely  astonishing. 

There  is  a  sort  of  effervescent  interest  which  one 
quickly  acquires  in  this  little  speck  of  bright  life 
and  its  gloomy  wilderness.  The  interest  begins 
with  its  misty  history  and  ends,  perhaps,  to-day  with 
the  modern  re-discovery  of  Patagonia  and  Tierra 
del  Fuego  by  sheep-farmers  and  gold-seekers. 
After  Magellan  discovered  the  Strait,  and  led  the 
way  across  the  jewelled  waters  of  the  Pacific,  the 
enterprising  Spaniards,  with  the  important  permis- 
sion of  the  Pope,  gathered  easily  and  peacefully  the 

82 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

accumulated  wealth  of  the  fertile  islands  and  opulent 
empires  of  the  South  Sea.  Any  competition  from 
other  nations  was  forbidden  by  the  Pope  and  pre- 
vented by  the  supposed  danger  of  passing  through 
the  Strait.  Both  of  these  dangers  were  braved  by 
the  bold  half-pirate,  half- explorer,  but  entire  sea- 
man, Francis  Drake. 

Drake  entered  the  Pacific  through  the  Strait  in 
1578,  and,  with  a  scurvy-pestered  crew,  deprived 
the  Spaniards  of  their  gold  and  silver  somewhat 
more  easily  than  they  had  taken  it  from  the  Indians. 
To  prevent  this  re -harvesting  of  their  easy-gotten 
profits,  Pedro  Sarmiento  de  Gamboa  was  despatched 
from  Lima,  in  1579,  to  survey  the  only  supposed 
entrance  into  the  Pacific,  the  Magellan  Strait.  Sar- 
miento advised  a  fortification  of  the  straits,  and, 
accordingly,  two  colonies  were  placed  on  command- 
ing points.  These  were  the  cities  Nombre  de  Jesus, 
near  the  first  narrows,  and  San  Felipe,  at  what  is 
now  called  Port  Famine.  But  eight  months'  pro- 
visions were  left  these  poor  protectors  of  Spanish 
gold,  and  they  perished  miserably  before  relief  was 
sent  them.  Only  two  survived  to  tell  the  tragedy, 
and  these  were  rescued  by  the  British  seamen — the 
men  whom  the  Spaniards  were  sent  to  destroy. 
Sarmiento,  who  placed  the  colonies,  was  captured 
by  one  of  Sir  Walter  Raleigh's  cruisers  on  his  return 
voyage  to  Spain. 

As  this  first  chapter  in  the  history  of  the  Magellan 
Strait  closed,  its  importance  also  vanished,  with  the 
discovery  of  the  passage  around  Cape  Horn  by  the 
Dutch  navigators,  Schouten  and  Le  Maire ;  and  for 

83 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

two  hundred  and  fifty  years  following  the  region  was 
left  to  the  possession  of  the  wild  life  with  which 
nature  had  stocked  it. 

In  1843,  with  no  knowledge  of  the  real  worth 
of  the  Magellanic  regions,  but  with  a  sort  of  natural 
pride  to  possess  the  historic  strait,  Chile  placed  a 
colony  at,  or  near,  the  ancient  site  of  San  Felipe. 
This  was  a  penal  settlement  where  political  prisoners 
were  sent.  It  was  a  sort  of  Chilean  Siberia,  just  as 
Staten  Island  is  to-day  for  Argentina,  and  thus  the 
venture  filled  two  missions :  it  held  for  Chile  the 
Strait  of  Magellan,  and  placed  the  troublesome  con- 
victs far  from  the  capital,  Santiago.  This  was  a 
particularly  appropriate  spot  for  that  large  class  of 
Spanish-American  citizens,  the  ever  restless  revo- 
lutionists. 

But  men  whose  occupation  is  revolt,  whose  life  is 
a  constant  navigation  of  dangerous  rapids,  are  not 
the  proper  sort  of  citizens  to  build  a  town.  This 
was  soon  learned  in  ''  La  Colonia  de  Magellanes," 
by  which  name  this  antarctic  exile  colony  was  offi- 
cially known.  Anything  which  savoured  of  work  was 
opposed  to  their  natures.  War,  riot,  massacre,  brutal 
freedom,  were  more  to  their  liking,  and  this  revolting 
spirit  was  not  a  little  fired  by  frequent  famines,  when 
the  infrequent  vessels  from  Valparaiso  did  not  arrive. 
The  place  thus  acquired,  by  hard  experience,  the 
name  of  Port  Famine.  One  day  the  exiles  rose  to 
arms,  killed  the  Governor,  and  took  the  town.  For 
this  they  were  all  strung  up  by  the  necks  from  the 
yard  arms  of  a  Chilean  gunboat. 

The  buildings  of  Port  Famine  having  been  fired, 

84 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

the  Government,  after  deciding  on  a  re- establish- 
ment of  the  colony,  selected  for  the  site  of  its  town  a 
long  tongue  of  sandy  ground  a  few  miles  farther 
north.  This  is  the  site  of  the  present  famous 
town,  Punta  Arenas,  and  it  takes  its  name  from  the 
sandy  point  on  which  it  rests.  Punta  Arenas,  or 
Sandy  Point,  like  the  first  colony,  had  as  its  princi- 
pal reason  for  existence  a  penal  settlement,  and  its 
population  was  composed  of  men  of  the  same  class  — 
mental  and  moral  outcasts,  revolutionists  and  high- 
handed criminals.  The  new  town  met  a  fate  similar 
to  that  of  the  first  settlement.  The  prisoners  revolted 
and,  assisted  by  the  soldiers  who  were  sent  to  pro- 
tect the  town,  they  sought  the  Governor.  But  to 
keep  his  own  blood  from  being  spilled,  this  unworthy 
official  deserted  his  wife  and  children,  and  left  for 
parts  unknown.  They  caught  the  commander  of 
the  garrison,  and  massacred  him  in  a  shocking 
manner,  after  which  they  took  the  town  and  held  a 
sort  of  drunken  festivity  for  three  days.  The 
Governor,  in  his  retreat,  with  singular  good  fortune 
found  a  Chilean  cruiser,  and  as  this  came  in  sight  of 
the  town  the  rioters,  to  save  their  necks,  took  to  the 
pampas.  Here  most  of  the  miscreants  came  to  a  mis- 
erable death  by  starvation,  fatigue,  and  cold.  A  few 
reached  the  Chubut  River  and  were  taken  to  Buenos 
Aires,  where  the  liberty  for  which  they  had  struggled 
was  given  them. 

This  last  destruction  of  the  colony  occurred  in 
1877.  At  this  time  Punta  Arenas  had  already  risen 
to  some  importance.  It  numbered,  among  its  exile 
settlers,    several    independent    citizens;    and    these 

85 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

were  the  creators  of  the  true  Magellanic  metropolis. 
No  more  prisoners  were  sent.  The  town  was  left 
to  live  and  flourish,  according  to  its  resources,  or  to 
die  a  natural  death.  Fortunately,  its  resources  had 
already  been  discovered.  Some  of  the  desert-like 
pampas,  upon  which  the  liberators  famished,  had 
been  stocked  with  sheep,  and  they  thrived  unex- 
pectedly. Gold  had  been  found  in  the  creeks,  coal 
had  been  found  but  a  short  distance  off,  the  forest 
appeared  inexhaustible,  and  steamers  were  be- 
ginning to  cut  the  solitude  of  the  Strait.  Dissatis- 
fied, rejected  and  venturous  sailors  cast  in  their  lots 
with  the  builders  of  the  town.  Shepherds,  gold- 
diggers,  traders,  adventurous  wanderers,  and  strip- 
lings from  the  world's  population  —  a  heterogeneous 
mixture — came  to  rest  here  as  a  last  resort.  The 
semi-Yankee  life  of  Punta  Arenas  takes  its  origin 
from  this  mass,  and  the  town  owes  its  growth,  very 
largely,  to  the  fact  that  its  site  is  a  terminal  morain 
to  a  restless  stream  of  human  life. 

With  this  preliminary  understanding  of  the  causes 
for  the  metropolitan  life  of  the  Strait  of  Magellan, 
one  is  not  so  greatly  surprised  at  the  first  glimpse 
of  the  strange  street  scenes.  We  naturally  looked 
for  some  marks  of  nationality  in  the  people  we  first 
met,  but  quite  in  vain.  Spanish  is  the  language  of 
the  place.  At  one  street  corner,  however,  one  hears 
English ;  at  another,  German ;  at  another,  French ; 
and  at  still  another,  Italian.  Negroes  are  few,  but  In- 
dians are  quite  numerous.  One  of  our  new  acquaint- 
ances took  us  about  town.  He  was,  I  believe,  a 
German  by  birth,  but  he  talked  with  us  in  French, 

2>6 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

and  took  us  to  a  bar  where  he  spoke  EngHsh ;  to  a 
magazine  where  he  addressed  the  clerk  in  Spanish ; 
to  the  church  where  he  addressed  the  Holy  Father 
in  Italian  ;  and  others  told  us  that  he  could  speak 
the  various  Indian  tongues,  and  was  not  puzzled 
with  Latin  and  Greek,  though  he  never  had  had  a 
college  education. 

The  streets  are  ordinary  country  roads,  in  very 
bad  order.  They  are  most  remarkable  for  their 
number  of  stagnant  pools  of  water,  and  the  various 
heaps  of  ashes  and  debris.  Stumps  of  trees,  broken 
carts,  tin  cans,  packing  boxes,  dead  dogs,  and  a  host 
of  other  refuse  serve  to  ornament  and  pave  the 
sandy  bottoms.  Scattered  about  these,  and  usually 
not  far  from  a  bar,  are  groups  of  visitors  in  various 
attitudes.  The  most  numerous  of  these  are  the  cow- 
boys or  gauchos,  as  they  are  called  some  on  horses 
with  ponchos  over  their  shoulders,  and  wearing 
huge,  broad-brimmed  hats,  and  loose  pantaloons; 
others  steeped  in  alcohol  with  a  soft  bed  of  sand  for 
a  couch,  and  a  boulder  for  a  pillow ;  and  still  others, 
in  new  suits,  moving  about  like  a  girl  in  an  Easter 
bonnet  to  display  their  annual  acquirements.  But 
the  gauchos  move  in  groups  to  themselves,  discus- 
sing sheep  and  squaws  and  the  hunting  sports  of  the 
pampas.  In  another  group  one  finds  quite  different 
types  of  humanity.  Here  are  the  gold-diggers,  men 
of  extremes,  either  without  a  copper  or  with  a  fat 
bag  of  gold,  according  to  the  luck  of  their  past 
season.  Unlike  the  cowboy,  who  is  usually  in  neat 
attire,  the  miner  is  careless  of  dress,  and,  rich  or 
poor,  is  rigged  in  rags ;  but  he  is  a  bit  of  a  lion 

^7 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

in  his  way.  If  he  has  found  rich  deposits,  his  pocket 
is  the  ambition  of  the  local  tradesmen,  and  his  in- 
formation is  eagerly  sought  by  all  the  loafers  of  the 
town.  He  discusses  pay-diggings,  nuggets,  methods 
of  washing  gold,  the  relative  qualities  of  food  and 
drinks,  and  his  last  feminine  acquaintances  in  Sandy 
Point.  And  then  there  are  the  groups  of  sailors, 
soldiers,  and  of  tramps.  The  citizens  of  the  town 
one  rarely  sees ;  they  are  always  occupied  within 
doors,  for  everybody  who  is  anybody  in  Punta 
Arenas  keeps  a  store  and  owns  one  or  more  sheep- 
farms. 

The  location  of  Punta  Arenas  is  rather  unique  in 
its  natural  surroundings,  and  in  its  commercial  ad- 
vantages. To  the  west  and  north-west  are  the  slowly 
rising  forest-covered  highlands,  terminating  in  the 
high,  ice-covered  peaks  of  the  Cordilleras.  To  the 
north-east  and  east  are  the  endless  undulating  plains 
of  Patagonia.  To  the  south  and  south-east  is  the 
Strait  of  Magellan  and  beyond  are  the  blue  hills  of 
the  northern  plains  on  the  main  island  of  Tierra  del 
Fuego.  To  the  south-west  are  the  bleak  islands  be- 
longing to  the  Fuegian  group.  This  location  has 
helped  to  make  the  town  the  trade  centre  of  the 
great  regions  south  of  the  Rio  de  la  Plata. 

The  two  very  important  discoveries  already  al- 
luded to  have  made  life  and  a  prosperous  population 
just  possible  in  this  vast  savage  land.  Only  a  few 
years  ago  all  of  South  America  south  of  the  river 
Plata  was  believed  to  be  a  useless  waste  of  barren 
ground,  peopled  by  man-eating  savages.  Even  to- 
day this   is  generally  believed  to  be   the  state  of 

88 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

affairs  in  Patagonia.  But  it  is  not  true.  The  pio- 
neers here  are  in  better  health  and  are  accumulating 
gold  more  rapidly  than  in  any  other  part  of  South 
America.  The  reasons  for  this  great  transformation 
are  the  discoveries  that  sheep  will  thrive  and  that 
gold  is  strewn  on  the  various  sandy  beaches.  The 
possibilities,  thus  afforded,  have  brought  the  people 
and  the  capital  to  America's  southern  end,  and 
have  made  Punta  Arenas  the  centre  of  a  population 
of  pioneers,  mostly  rich  in  profitable  land  and  in 
sheep,  but  poor  in  worldly  comforts. 

When  the  far-seeing  Englishman,  already  referred 
to,  brought  the  first  sheep  from  the  Falkland  Islands 
about  twenty-five  years  ago,  they  thrived  so  well  in 
their  new  home,  that  soon  many  others  did  likewise. 
To-day  almost  every  acre  of  available  ground  is 
stocked  with  sheep.  This  sheep- farming,  however, 
is  done  on  such  an  immense  scale  that  even  a  Yankee 
farmer  will  be  compelled  to  feel  his  littleness.  Space 
will  not  permit  me  to  dwell  on  this  interesting  sub- 
ject, but  a  man  owning  ten  thousand  sheep  is  con- 
sidered to  be  a  small  and  poor  farmer ;  one  owning 
fifty  thousand  is  quite  ordinary ;  and  men  who  have 
a  hundred  thousand  are  not  uncommon.  The  Cape 
Horn  millionaire  is  not  noted  by  the  number  of 
dollars  he  possesses,  but  by  the  number  of  sheep  he 
shears. 

Gold  mining  is  the  occupation  of  the  poor,  and 
the  idle  population.  This  is  not  because  gold  is 
scarce  or  the  occupation  unprofitable,  but  because  it 
requires  little  capital,  and  yields  immediate  returns. 
With  a  shovel  and  a  pan,  inexperienced  men  earn 

89 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

five  dollars  daily.  The  gold  is  widely  diffused,  but 
is  seldom  in  very  rich  placers.  Many  of  the  creeks 
and  the  beaches  of  Patagonia,  both  on  the  Atlantic 
side  and  in  the  Strait  of  Magellan,  are  known  to 
contain  gold.  The  same  is  true  of  Tierra  del  Fuego. 
Even  the  mud  of  the  streets  of  Punta  Arenas  is  said 
to  contain  the  yellow  metal. 

The  architecture  of  Punta  Arenas  is  similar  to 
that  of  the  mushroom  towns  of  the  western  plains. 
The  houses  are  made  of  corrugated  sheet-iron,  and 
are  altogether  uninteresting,  except  in  that  they  are 
constructed  of  material  brought  six  thousand  miles, 
while  within  a  thousand  yards  is  a  virgin  forest  of 
excellent  wood.  During  the  short  time  of  one  year, 
electric  lights,  telephone,  and  telegraph  plants  have 
been  established,  a  really  good  theatre  has  been 
built  and  several  churches  are  in  the  course  of  con- 
struction. Nearly  every  house  sells  intoxicating 
drinks.  Alcohol  is  said  to  be  served  even  in  the 
churches.  Indeed,  alcohol  is  at  the  base  of  all  the 
crimes  and  most  of  the  pleasures  of  Punta  Arenas. 

Unlike  the  immigrants  to  the  United  States,  the 
new-comers  to  Patagonia  have  remained  as  sep- 
arate little  colonies,  and  never  made  a  homoge- 
neous mixture  as  in  our  States.  They  await  with 
yearly  anticipation  an  opportunity  of  returning  to 
their  mother  countries.  The  sheep-farmers  and 
bankers  are  mostly  British,  the  storekeepers  gener- 
ally German.  The  Anglo-Saxon  is  the  ruling  spirit, 
and  in  a  very  short  time  this  long  deserted  no-man's- 
land  will  be  a  gilded  paradise  stocked  with  the 
healthy  mixture  of  northern  races  which  has  made 

90 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

the  United  States  the  most  progressive  of  the  new 
nations  of  the  world.  Southern  South  America  is 
to  be  the  Yankee  land  of  the  far  south  and  for  this, 
their  absorption  as  stupidly  suggested  by  Rhodes  is 
entirely  unnecessary.  The  people  here  are  able  to 
take  care  of  themselves,  and  the  Republican  govern- 
ments of  Chile  and  Argentina  are  quite  capable 
of  managing  their  own  affairs. 


91 


CHAPTER  VII 

FROM    PUNTA    ARENAS    TO    USHUAIA,   THROUGH 
THE   FUEGIAN    CHANNELS 

UsHUAiA,  Dec.  28,  1897 
After  spending  a  fortnight  at  Punta  Arenas, 
restocking  and  refitting  the  ship,  studying  the  sur- 
rounding regions,  and  accepting  the  warm  hospi- 
tahty  of  the  citizens,  we  tipped  our  anchor  at  mid- 
night of  December  14th.  We  then  set  a  course 
almost  due  south  for  Famine  Reach.  The  Httle  gun- 
boat Torro,  detailed  by  the  Chilean  officials,  escorted 
us  for  several  hours.  The  early  part  of  the  night 
was  clear,  which  permitted  us  to  see  Sandy  Point, 
with  its  glittering  sheet-iron  houses,  for  a  long  time. 
In  the  morning  we  were  off  the  northern  shore  of 
Dawson  Island,  and  from  this  time  until  we  reached 
Ushuaia  the  weather  was  extremely  unsettled.  Cold 
rains,  drizzling  fogs,  and  sweeping  squalls  of  wind 
were  the  normal  weather  conditions.  At  2  o'clock 
in  the  afternoon  we  anchored  in  Hope  Harbour,  a 
snug  little  cove  at  the  entrance  of  Magdalene  Sound. 
We  soon  assembled  in  small  companies  and  went 
ashore  to  explore  as  best  we  could  the  regions  about. 
Everything  here  had  for  us  a  special  interest,  for,  in  a 
scientific  sense,  all  was  unexplored.  There  were  glac- 

92 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

iers,  unsealed  mountain  heights,  unknown  water 
depths,  and  a  savage  wilderness  of  land,  with  gold 
in  many  streams.  We  should  have  enjoyed  a  pro- 
longed stay  here  but  the  time  for  exploration  in  the 
more  icy  south  was  already  far  advanced,  and  since 
this  was  the  principal  part  of  our  work  we  must 
hasten  to  it.  The  afternoon  was  given  to  examina- 
tions ashore. 

The  narrow  beaches  were  lined  with  mussel  shells 
and  in  one  place  there  were  two  bee-hive  shaped 
frames  of  old  Indian  huts.  There  were  a  great  many 
birds  about,  but  we  saw  no  large  life.  Where  the 
land  was  so  exposed  that  the  vegetation  was  shel- 
tered from  the  sudden  squalls  of  winds,  here  called 
*' williwaws,"  there  was  a  forest  of  large  beech  trees, 
and  under  these  there  was  such  a  rank  profusion  of 
underbrush  and  moss  that  it  was  difficult,  generally 
impossible,  to  force  a  passage.  Near  the  open  blast 
of  the  regular  winds  and  the  williwaws  the  land  was 
mostly  barren  of  trees  but  covered  by  a  thick,  velvety 
carpet  of  wet  moss.  It  rained  and  snowed  nearly 
all  the  time  we  were  ashore,  and  w^e  came  back  with 
our  boots  full  of  icy  water,  our  clothing  torn,  soaked, 
and  hanging  to  us  like  wet  leather,  and  our  heads 
bruised.  We  had  made  some  notes  and  some  studies, 
but  altogether  our  personal  discomforts  were  such 
that  we  were  ready  to  throw  science  to  the  dogs.  He 
who  attempts  to  properly  explore  this  region  will 
find  conditions  to  try  his  patience  nearly  as  bad  as 
at  either  pole. 

On   the  following  morning  we  steamed  through 
Magdalene  Sound.     The  scene   was   desolate   but 

93 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

wildly  beautiful.  The  westerly  banks  rose  out  of 
the  waters  with  an  easy  slope,  terminating  in  low 
hills  of  polished  stones.  The  ravines,  the  gullies, 
and  the  shore-line  were  covered  by  a  dense  growth 
of  stunted  beech.  The  uplands,  where  soil  and 
rooting  surface  was  possible,  were  carpeted  by  heavy 
sheets  of  moss.  The  easterly  banks,  though  far  more 
barren,  were  of  greater  interest  to  us.  Nine  glaciers 
poured  their  crystal  currents  down  from  the  majestic 
heights  of  Mount  Sarmiento  which  was  draped  in  a 
white  mist.  The  glaring  whiteness  of  these  glaciers, 
separated  by  black  weather-worn  dome -shaped 
mountains  of  solid  rock,  made  a  scene  of  rare  de- 
light. At  1 1  o'clock  we  rounded  Cape  Turn,  and 
then  the  interesting  polished  rocky  slopes  of  the 
banks  and  islands  of  Cockburn  Channel  lay  before 
us.  Here  we  felt  the  disturbing  influences  of  the 
airs  coming  out  of  the  Pacific.  A  violent  puff  of 
wind  struck  us  as  we  passed  each  break  in  contin- 
uity of  the  mountains,  and  this  was  followed  by  a 
rain  squall  and  a  choppy  sea.  We  were  indeed  glad 
when  we  turned  our  backs  to  this  region  of  battling 
storms  to  enter  the  less  dreadful  channels  eastward. 
At  6  o'clock  we  were  amid  a  labyrinth  of  uncharted 
islands  in  Whale  Boat  Sound.  Severe  storms  came 
here  also,  and  these,  with  frequent  clouds  of  fog  and 
increasing  darkness,  made  navigation  uncomfortable 
and  dangerous.  At  midnight  we  dropped  anchor 
on  the  eastern  bank  of  Basket  Island ;  but  the  bot- 
tom was  rocky  and  both  the  wind  and  the  sea  were 
too  dangerous  to  remain,  so  at  3  o'clock  in  the  morn- 
ing we  started  again  to  plod  along  as  best  we  could. 

94 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

The  chart  was  so  imperfect  that  we  were  compelled  to 
pick  our  way,  as  if  exploring  regions  entirely  new. 
We  counted  not  less  than  twenty  islands  which  we 
could  not  find  on  the  charts.  It  would  have  been  in- 
teresting also  to  linger  here  and  explore  this  locality 
but  we  had  a  stronger  interest  ever  pulling  us  on  to 
regions  farther  south.  As  the  sun  rose  and  we  ad- 
vanced farther  eastward,  the  atmospheric  conditions 
were  such  that  rainbows,  complete  and  in  fragments, 
were  in  the  south  and  west  almost  constantly  for 
several  hours.  The  bows  were  generally  arched 
over  a  chain  of  islands  touched  by  bands  of  green 
and  brown  and  gold,  and  altogether  the  effect  was 
full  of  delightful  colour  and  fascinating  harmony. 

At  noon  we  anchored  at  the  eastern  end  of  Whale 
Boat  Sound  in  a  small  bay  on  the  northern  shore  of 
Londonderry  Island.  Soon  after  dinner  we  went 
ashore  to  bag  specimens  for  the  laboratory.  The 
land  around  the  bay  is  about  a  thousand  feet  high, 
rising  rather  abruptly  from  the  waters,  but  the 
mountain  crests  are  everywhere  accessible.  As  we 
landed  we  found  close  to  the  water-line  a  number  of 
old  Indian  fireplaces  with  great  heaps  of  mussel 
shells  about.  These  were  the  sites  of  ancient  In- 
dian huts.  The  lowlands  were  covered  by  a  thick 
meshwork  of  vegetation,  mostly  mosses  and  grass. 
In  sheltered  places  there  were  a  few  beech  trees,  but 
the  tallest  were  not  more  than  fifteen  feet  high.  We 
had  not  ascended  very  far  when  we  found  every- 
where evidences  that  the  whole  land  had  at  one  time 
been  covered  by  glaciers.  Massive  boulders  were 
seen   in    lines,   and    all    the    rocks    were    polished 

95 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

and  scratched  in  a  typically  glacial  manner.  There 
were  many  lakes  which  marked  the  beds  of  old 
glaciers.  Before  dark  we  came  down  from  the 
heights  with  our  bags  full  of  specimens  and  our  note- 
books full  of  observations,  but  our  clothing  as  usual 
was  wet  and  torn.  Near  the  shore  we  built  a  camp- 
fire,  and  then  tried  to  dry  our  clothing  and  extract 
such  comfort  out  of  life  as  Indians,  in  a  similar  po- 
sition, do.  I  think  it  was  Darwin  who  said  that  the 
people  of  this  region  did  not  enjoy  any  of  the  com- 
forts of  home.  Certainly  he  never  built  a  fire  in  a 
cold,  drizzling  rain,  and  sat  beside  it  to  eat  his  lunch. 
If  he  had,  he  should  have  learned  to  enjoy  the  first 
comfort  of  the  home  of  primitive  man.  We  spent  a 
few  days  in  this  neighbourhood,  visited  a  glacier,  and 
then  steamed  through  the  northern  arm  of  Beagle 
Channel  to  Ushuaia,  where  we  anchored  late  in  the 
evening  of  December  21.  After  breakfast  on  the 
following  morning  we  went  ashore.  The  manner 
of  our  going  was  a  matter  of  some  anthropological 
interest.  It  portrayed  our  developing  disregard  for 
formality  and  our  resignation  to  the  savage  life  to 
which  a  constant  force  of  circumstances  drove  us. 
At  Rio  we  were  done  up  in  good  style  before  we 
left  the  ship ;  dress  suits  when  necessary,  the  newest 
thing  in  neckties,  and  neatly  pressed  trousers.  At 
Montevideo  our  garments  were  crinkled  and  showed 
the  effects  of  the  sea.  We  began,  here,  to  be  a  little 
indifferent  in  personal  appearances.  At  Punta  Are- 
nas we  did  not  even  try  to  fix  up,  but  walked  about 
the  town  as  careless  of  dress  as  bricklayers ;  and 
here  at  Ushuaia,  well  —  the  man  who  dressed  and 

96 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

brushed  his  hair  was  an  outcast;  he  was  not  re- 
garded as  an  explorer. 

Ushuaia  is  a  small  town  of  about  twenty-five 
sheet-iron  houses,  built  at  the  base  of  the  termina- 
ting hills  of  the  Cordilleras.  The  background  of  the 
town  is  savagely  picturesque.  Two  chains  of  moun- 
tains run  eastward  parallel  to  each  other  along  the 
southern  border  of  the  main  island  of  Tierra  del 
Fuego,  and  these  mountains  give  the  surroundings 
of  Ushuaia  a  remarkably  wild  but  pleasing  effect. 
The  town  has  in  itself  very  little  of  importance.  It  is 
a  military  and  convict  station  for  the  Argentine  Re- 
public, and  at  present  there  is  a  pier  in  construction 
from  which  vessels  can  coal. 

The  government  of  the  Argentine  Republic  with 
commendable  liberality  offered  us  coal  and  supplies 
free  of  cost  at  their  stations.  At  Lapataia,  a  neigh- 
bouring town,  the  Belgica  remained  a  week  to  coal. 
At  Ushuaia  and  at  Harbourton,  we  took  in  our  last 
supply  of  fresh  provisions.  We  were  indebted  to  the 
Argentine  government  for  the  kind  treatment  at  her 
hands,  and  to  Mr.  John  Lawrence  and  Mr.  Thomas 
Bridges  (now  deceased)  and  their  families,  for  valu- 
able aid  in  furnishing  supplies  and  help  in  making 
Indian  studies.  It  will  not  be  possible  to  give 
more  than  a  passing  notice  of  our  work  among 
the  very  interesting  tribes  of  Indians  of  this  region. 
The  anthropological  observations,  measurements 
and  vocabularies  will  be  given  separate  publication. 
For  the  present,  the  reader  must  be  content  with  a 
few  notes  on  the  Onas. 


97 


CHAPTER  VIII 


A  RACE  OF  FUEGIAN  GIANTS 

Harbourton,  Jan.  6,  1898. 

The  Fuegians  have 
been  described,  from  time 
to  time,  since  the  country 
was  first  sighted  and 
named  by  Magellan  in 
1520;  but  to-day  they 
still  remain  almost  un- 
known. In  connection 
with  the  voyage  of  the 
Belgica  we  had  unusual 
opportunities  for  studying 
their  wild  life  and  their 
They  are  not,  as  it  is  gener- 
ally supposed,  one  homogeneous  tribe,  but  three 
distinct  races,  with  different  languages,  different  ap- 
pearances, different  habits  and  homes. 

In  the  western  Chilean  channels,  living  in  beech- 
bark  canoes  and  in  dugouts,  using  mussels,  snails, 
crabs  and  fish  in  general  as  food,  are  the  short,  im- 
perfectly developed  Alaculoofs.  These  are  met  by 
many  vessels  navigating  the  Strait  of  Magellan  and 

98 


Comparative  Size  of  an  Ona 
and  a  Caucasian. 

weather-beaten  land. 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

most  of  our  reports  of  Fuegians  are  limited  to  hasty 
glimpses  of  these  people ;  but  they  are  now  nearly 
extinct,  and  they  were  always  the  lowest  and  the 
most  dejected  of  the  Fuegians. 

Closely  allied  in  habits  to  the  Alaculoofs  are  the 
Indians  inhabiting  the  islands  about  Cape  Horn  and 
northward  to  Beagle  Channel.  These  are  called 
Yahgans.  They  have  been  the  most  numerous  and 
the  most  powerful  of  the  Fuegian  people,  but  to-day 
they  too  are  nearly  extinct.  They  are  dwarfed  in 
stature,  dwarfed  in  mental  development  and,  like  the 
Alaculoofs,  live  in  canoes  and  feed  upon  the  prod- 
ucts of  the  sea. 

The  third  tribe  is  a  race  of  giants.  They  are 
called  Onas  by  their  neighbours,  the  Yahgans.  The 
Onas  have,  thus  far,  evaded  all  efforts  at  civilisation, 
have  refused  missionaries,  and  have,  to  the  present 
time,  with  good  reason,  persistently  mistrusted  white 
men.    They  have  in  consequence  remained  unknown. 

The  homes  of  the  Onas  are  on  the  main  island  of 
Tierra  del  Fuego.  For  centuries  they  have  fought 
to  keep  this  as  their  preserve ;  but  the  Yahgans 
have  been  allowed  to  pitch  their  tents  on  the  southern 
coastal  fringe  along  Beagle  Channel.  In  a  like 
manner  the  Alaculoofs  have  been  permitted  to  use 
the  shore-line  of  the  west.  Neither  the  Yahgans 
nor  the  Alaculoofs,  however,  nor  white  men,  until 
very  recently,  have  dared  venture  into  the  interior. 
The  great  prairies  of  the  north  and  the  mountain 
forests  of  the  middle  of  the  island,  with  the  still  un- 
known lakes,  have  been  guarded  as  hunting-ground 
exclusively  for  the  Onas.     The  island  is  nearly  as 

99 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

large  as  the  State  of  New  York.  The  boundary- 
Hne  of  Chile  and  Argentina,  running  from  north 
to  south  through  the  centre  of  the  island,  gives  each 
republic  a  nearly  equal  share  of  the  country.  Gold 
has  been  found  in  the  sands  along  the  beach  of 
various  parts  of  the  land.  This  is  being  mined  with 
considerable  success.  The  pampas  of  the  north  and 
a  part  of  the  southern  ground  have  proved  to  be 
some  of  the  best  sheep-farming  country  of  the  world. 
The  gold-diggers  and  the  sheep-farmers  have  thus 
re-discovered  Tierra  del  Fuego  as  they  have  Pata- 
gonia. The  mining  camps  and  the  wire  fences  are 
crowding  the  once  ruling  race  of  Onas  into  the  use- 
less forest- covered  lowlands  and  the  ice-covered 
highlands  of  the  interior,  where  they  must  either 
starve  or  freeze  or  perish  at  the  hands  of  Caucasian 
invaders.  The  old  happy  hunting-ground  of  the 
Ona  has  gone  the  way  of  all  other  Indian  homes; 
but  he  has  fought  bravely  for  it,  and  he  will  con- 
tinue to  do  so  until  the  last  skeleton  is  left  to  bleach 
on  the  wind-swept  pampas. 

The  first  sheep-farm  was  started  here  by 
Mr.  Steubenrach,  the  British  Consular  agent,  Punta 
Arenas.  Steubenrach,  anticipating  trouble  with  the 
powerful  Onas,  who  have  always  been  the  dread  of 
white  settlers  in  this  vicinity,  secured,  as  one  of  his 
shepherds,  a  missionary  to  preach  the  gospel  and 
morality  and  some  other  things  to  the  Indians.  This 
mission  Service  was  a  diplomatic  stroke  which  was 
thought  to  be  the  most  effective  way  of  gaining  the 
favour  of  the  Chilean  Government;  which  favour 
was   a   valuable    aid    in    obtaining  grants   of  land. 

lOO 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT  A:     ;  J, 

It  was  also  thought  possible  by  this  method  to  tame 
the  aborigines  and  make  shepherds  of  them.  The 
good  preacher  tried  to  Christianise  and  civiHse  the 
Indians.  During  the  day  they  congregated  in  large 
numbers  to  hear  the  new  medicine-man.  They 
were  indeed  interested ;  but  they  proved  their  inter- 
est in  an  unexpected  manner.  At  night,  when  all 
was  quiet  and  the  shepherds  were  asleep,  with 
confidence  in  the  effect  of  their  pious  training  upon 
the  Indians,  the  wild  hunters  came  among  the  herds, 
cut  the  wire  fences,  and  drove  off  such  numbers  as 
suited  their  appetites.  These  night  raids  continued 
month  after  month,  but  the  Indians  came  in  fearlessly 
in  increasing  numbers  to  listen  to  the  gospel  pow- 
wows. At  length,  driven  to  distraction,  the  prospect- 
ive makers  of  Christians  sent  to  Punta  Arenas  for 
Winchester  rifles.  Preaching  was  then  abandoned, 
and  the  murderous  sound  of  firearms  has  taken  its 
place  ever  since.  The  wire  fences  have  been  ex- 
tended, the  Winchesters  have  been  multiplied,  every 
available  acre  of  Fuegian  ground  has  been  covered 
with  sheep,  while  the  Indians,  never  known  and 
never  understood,  have  been  swept  from  their 
ancient  homes. 

In  defence  of  the  pioneers  it  should  be  said  that 
the  Indians  from  the  first  have  waged  a  constant  and 
relentless  warfare.  •  A  mutual  understanding  has  at 
no  time  seemed  possible,  and  if  the  settlers  would 
follow  their  business  a  vigorous  defence  was  neces- 
sary. In  spite  of  the  destructive  onslaughts  of  the 
Indians,  however,  the  farms  have  flourished  so  well 
that  to-day  the  number  of  sheep  raised  individually 

lOI 


;     ;  /  THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

and  collectively  by  the  Fuegian  rancheros  is  per- 
fectly astonishing.  There  is  one  farm  not  yet  quite 
stocked  which  will  support  six  hundred  thousand 
sheep.  The  profit  over  and  above  all  expenses 
averages  about  fifty  cents  annually  for  each  animal. 
This  would  give,  for  a  farm  of  moderate  size,  a  clear 
gain  of  $50,000  yearly,  which  is  certainly  a  princely 
income  for  a  farmer.  The  proprietors  of  these 
ranches  are  mostly  men  of  large  finances,  who  live 
in  luxury  and  comfort  in  the  cities  of  South  America 
and  Europe. 

The  Onas,  as  a  tribe,  have  never  been  united  in 
a  common  interest,  nor  have  they  ever  been  led  by 
any  one  great  chief  They  have  always  been  di- 
vided into  small  clans,  under  a  leader  with  limited 
powers,  and  these  chiefs  have  waged  a  constant  war- 
fare among  themselves.  Up  to  the  present  they 
have  had  their  worst  enemies  among  their  own 
people,  but  now  that  sheep-farmers  and  gold-diggers 
want  their  country,  they  are  uniting  to  fight  their 
common  enemy.  But  this  enemy,  these  white  men 
with  Winchesters,  will  be  their  doom. 

The  Ona  population,  is  at  present  about  sixteen 
hundred,  divided  into  sixteen  tribes  of  about  one  hun- 
dred each.  From  this  number  there  is  a  constant 
diminution.  Many  of  the  children  have  been  taken 
from  their  wild  homes  bordering  on  the  sheep- 
farms,  and  placed  in  European  families  about  Punta 
Arenas.  These  children  thrive  well  at  first,  and  are 
capable  of  considerable  education,  but  few  reach  adult 
age.  The  minor  children's  diseases,  such  as  measles 
and  whooping-cough,  are  extremely  fatal  to  them,  and 

102 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

those  who  escape  other  diseases  are  almost  certain 
to  succumb  to  tuberculosis.  For  a  number  of  years 
the  Indians,  watching  the  encroachment  of  white 
men  upon  their  territory,  have  made  it  as  uncom- 
fortable as  possible  for  the  intruders.  To  bag  a 
settler  was  quite  as  much  sport  as  to  secure  game, 
and  the  white  men  in  return  have  shot  Indians  with 
as  much  elation  as  if  they  were  dropping  panthers. 
Killing  has  been  in  vogue  on  both  sides,  but  the 
battle  is  uneven.  The  Indian  must  vanish  before 
the  lead  of  Christians  —  such  is  the  mission  of 
modern  civilisation. 

Migration  from  one  part  of  the  island  to  another, 
and  from  one  clan  to  another,  has  been  common,  but 
the  Ona  has  seldom  left  his  chosen  land.  A  few 
have  been  found  in  Patagonia,  and  occasionally  one 
has  strayed  over  among  the  Yahgans  and  the  Alacu- 
loofs ;  but  these  have  only  been  stragglers  who,  by 
accident,  have  been  separated  from  the  main  island. 
The  Onas  possess  no  canoes  with  which  to  cross  the 
Strait  of  Magellan,  or  the  canals  south  and  west; 
but  they  barter  with  the  other  Indians  along  Beagle 
Channel  and  the  west,  and  within  recent  years  they 
have  extended  these  trading  operations  to  the  white 
settlers  along  the  south.  The  men  have  a  great  ad- 
miration for  women  of  other  tribes,  and  this  admira- 
tion induces  them  to  make  raids  among  the  other 
tribes  to  capture  women.  So  much  was  this  done  in 
the  past  that  in  the  south-eastern  part  of  the  island 
there  sprang  up  a  new  race,  a  hybrid  mixture  of 
Yahgans  and  Onas ;  but  these  are  now  extinct. 

Physically  the  Onas  are  giants.     They  are  not, 

103 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

however,  seven  or  eight  feet  in  height,  as  the  early- 
explorers  reported  their  neighbours  and  nearest  re- 
latives, the  Patagonians,  to  be.  Their  average 
height  is  close  to  six  feet,  a  few  attain  six  feet  and 
six  inches,  and  a  few  are  under  six  feet.  The 
women  are  not  quite  so  tall,  but  they  are  more  cor- 
pulent. There  is,  perhaps,  no  race  in  the  world  with 
a  more  perfect  physical  development  than  the  Ona 
men.  This  unique  development  is  due  to  the  topog- 
raphy of  their  country  and  the  distribution  of  game, 
which  makes  long  marches  constantly  necessary. 
The  Ona  men  are  certainly  the  greatest  cross-coun- 
try runners  on  the  American  continent. 

The  mental  equipment  of  the  Ona  is  by  no  means 
equal  to  his  splendid  physical  development.  He 
understands  very  well  the  few  arts  of  chase  which 
he  finds  necessary  to  maintain  a  food-supply.  His 
game  in  the  past  has  been  easily  gotten ;  his  needs 
have  been  few,  which  fact  accounts  for  the  lack  of 
inventive  skill  displayed  in  his  instruments  of  chase. 
The  home-life,  the  house,  the  clothing,  —  everything 
portrays  this  lack  of  progressive  skill.  Instead  of  the 
children  being  well  dressed  and  well  cared  for,  as  is 
the  rule  among  savage  races,  they  are  mostly  naked, 
poorly  fed,  badly  trained,  and  altogether  neglected, 
not  because  of  a  lack  of  paternal  love,  but  because 
of  the  mental  lethargy  of  the  people.  It  is  the  same 
as  to  shelter  and  the  garments.  They  have  abund- 
ant material  to  make  good  tents  and  warm,  storm- 
proof houses;  but  they  simply  bunch  up  a  few 
branches,  and  throw  to  the  windward  a  few  skins, 
and  then  shiver,  complaining  of  their  miserable  ex- 
istence. 

104 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

It  has  never  fallen  to  my  lot  to  listen  to  a  language 
so  odd,  so  strikingly  peculiar,  as  that  of  the  Ona. 
Some  of  my  companions  on  the  Belgica  used  to 
amuse  themselves  at  my  expense  by  declaring  that 
from  a  distance  the  talk  of  a  group  of  Onas  was  like 
that  of  a  group  of  Englishmen.  To  this  I  have  pro- 
tested, for  that  statement  is  certainly  a  libel  upon 
English.  This  might  be  said,  with  considerable 
truth,  of  the  Yahgan  tongue,  which  is  smooth  and 
easy,  but  of  the  grunting,  choking,  spasmodic  talk 
of  the  Onas  it  is  decidedly  untrue.  Many  of  the 
words  are  not  difficult  of  pronunciation,  nor  is  the 
construction  of  sentences  hard,  but  in  every  fifth  or 
sixth  word  there  is  a  sound  impossible  of  reproduc- 
tion by  any  one  who  has  not  had  years  of  practice. 
These  sounds  offer  sudden  breaks  in  the  flow  of 
words  and  the  speaker,  by  efforts  which  suggest 
the  getting  of  sounds  from  the  stomach,  struggles 
for  something  far  down  in  his  throat.  He  hacks, 
and  coughs,  and  grunts,  distorting  his  face  in  the 
most  inhuman  manner  momentarily,  and  then  passes 
on  to  the  next  stumbling  block,  or  hot  potato,  or 
whatever  it  is  which  makes  the  poor  mortal  suffer 
such  tortures  of  speech.  I  always  felt  like  giving  an 
Ona  an  emetic  when  I  heard  him  talk. 

Like  all  the  American  aborigines  the  Onas  feed 
principally  upon  m.eat,  and  this  meat  was,  in  former 
years,  obtained  from  the  guanaco.  The  guanaco 
roamed  about  in  large  herds  upon  the  pampas  and 
grassy  lowlands ;  regions  now  in  use  as  sheep- 
farms.  The  guanaco,  like  the  Indian,  is  forced  to 
the  barren  interior  mountains,  where  life  is  a  hard 
struggle   against  storms  and  barrenness  and   per- 

105 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

ennial  snows.  Owing  to  the  present  greater  dif- 
ficulty of  hunting  these  animals  and  their  reduced 
numbers,  the  Ona  has  taken  most  naturally  to  the 
sheep  which  have  been  brought  to  occupy  these 
lands.  That  the  sheep  are  owned  by  other  men  is 
a  fact  not  easily  recognised  by  Indians,  to  whom  the 
world  of  Fuegian  wilderness  has  always  been  free. 
The  many  thousands  of  guanaco  bianco,  as  the 
Onas  call  sheep,  grazing  peacefully  upon  the  Indian 
hunting-grounds,  make  a  picture  full  of  irresistible 
temptation,  as  the  aborigines,  hungry  and  half 
naked,  look  from  icy  mountain  forests  down  over 
the  plains.  Shall  we  call  them  thieves  if,  while 
their  wives  and  children  and  loved  ones  are  starving, 
they  boldly  descend  and,  in  the  face  of  Winchester 
rifles,  take  what  to  them  seems  a  product  of  their 
own  country? 

Unfortunately,  the  Indians  have  had  so  many 
causes  for  revenge  against  the  white  invaders,  that 
they  no  longer  capture  sheep,  as  they  did  primarily, 
to  satisfy  the  pangs  of  hunger,  but  to  obtain  ven- 
geance. The  wholesale  manner  in  which  they  do 
this,  however,  would  make  a  beggar  of  an  ordinary 
farmer  in  a  single  night.  In  the  neighbourhood  of 
Useless  Bay  they  have  been  known  to  round  up  two 
thousand  sheep  in  one  raid,  and  they  seldom  now 
take  less  than  a  few  hundred  at  a  time.  While 
stopping  at  a  farm  on  the  Rio  Grande  I  had  an  op- 
portunity of  being  in  close  proximity  to  this  kind  of 
warfare.  Two  Indians  came  in  and  asked  for  an 
interview  with  the  chief  of  the  farm.  The  man  in 
charge  was  a  bright  young  fellow  who  knew  the 

1 06 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

Indians  very  well.  He  treated  the  delegation 
kindly,  fed  and  clothed  them,  and  listened  to  their 
story. 

The  Indians  spoke  in  broken  Spanish,  and  said 
that  they  had  been  sent  by  the  great  chief  Colchicoli 
to  ask  if  the  manager  of  this  farm  would  make  an 
arrangement  for  amicable  and  peaceful  relations  in 
the  future.  Colchicoli  and  his  people  had,  for  a 
long  time,  been  on  friendly  terms  with  Mr.  Bridges,  a 
farmer  on  the  southern  shore.  While  here,  many 
had  died  and  many  others  were  sickly.  It  was  the 
wrong  season  for  them  in  the  south  ;  the  winter  was 
too  cold  there,  the  spirits  were  against  them,  and  for 
reasons  of  health  alone  they  must  seek  their  old 
haunts  on  the  sunny  northern  shores  for  the  winter. 
They  had  been  ten  days  in  crossing  the  island  over 
the  snowy  interior  mountains.  They  had  been 
several  days  without  food.  The  women  and  child- 
ren were  starving.  The  entire  tribe  were  at  the 
edge  of  the  forest  about  one  hundred  miles  to 
the  south.  Would  Mr.  Menendez  give  them  a  little 
food  for  present  needs,  and  a  preserve  where  the 
people  might  live  and  hunt  in  their  own  way,  undis- 
turbed by  the  soldiers  and  the  shepherds  ? 

Mr.  Menendez  replied  in  the  affirmative,  and  then 
went  on  to  qualify  his  offer.  He  said  that  at  first  he 
was  not  inclined  to  treat  their  demand  seriously. 
He  had  suffered  so  much  at  their  hands  by  unlim- 
ited thefts  of  so  many  thousands  of  sheep,  and  by 
their  heartless  destruction  of  his  fences,  etc.,  that  he 
was  not  in  an  easy  mood  to  harbour  them  near  his 
farms ;    but  if  they  promised  to  be   good,   if  they 

107 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

agreed  to  steal  no  more  sheep,  he  would  give  them 
the  southern  bank  of  a  river,  about  ten  miles  south- 
ward, where  they  might  pitch  their  tents,  hunt  and 
fish,  and  live  undisturbed.  He  further  agreed  that 
he  would  give  them  such  meat  as  they  required. 

The  Indians  returned  to  their  chief  to  report  the 
success  of  their  mission.  Owing  to  their  lengthy 
stay,  however,  the  chief  thought  they  had  been  killed, 
and  in  retaliation  ordered  the  raiding  of  five  hundred 
sheep  which,  of  course,  made  the  consummation  of 
an  amicable  agreement  impossible.  In  defence  of 
the  Indians,  however,  it  should  be  said  that  one  year 
previous  a  similar  arrangement  had  been  entered 
into  in  good  faith.  The  Indians  came,  trustingly,  to 
a  camp  where  the  entire  company,  men,  women,  and 
children,  were  seized  by  soldiers,  and  exiled  from  the 
island. 

The  Onas  have  been  masters  of  Tierra  del  Fuego, 
not  because  of  the  perfection  of  their  implements  of 
war,  but  because  of  their  splendid  physical  force. 
The  only  destructive  weapon  which  they  have 
brought  to  effective  use  is  the  bow  and  arrow.  The 
bow  used  by  them  is  made  of  the  wood  of  the  ant- 
arctic beech,  which  is  scraped  and  worked  into  the 
desired  shape  by  the  sharp  edge  of  one  of  the 
numerous  shells  which  everywhere  are  found  on  the 
beach.  The  string  is  made  of  the  sinews  of  the 
guanaco,  neatly  braided.  The  arrow  shaft  is  a  reed- 
like branch  of  a  tree  called  the  Winter  s  bark ;  it  is 
winged  with  feathers  of  native  birds,  and  tipped 
with  a  unique  glass  point. 

In  former  years,  before  vessels  entered  the  Strait 

1 08 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

of  Magellan  and  before  the  passage  around  Cape 
Horn  was  discovered,  the  Onas  tipped  their  arrows 
with  flint;  but  since  white  men  have  invaded  these 
waters  their  misfortunes  have  been  the  fortunes  of 
the  Indians.  From  the  many  wrecks  thrown  upon 
the  rocky  shores  during  the  past  three  hundred 
years  the  aborigines  have  obtained  glass,  with  which 
they  now  point  their  arrows;  and  also  iron  of  which 
they  make  knives.  Within  the  last  twenty-five 
years  they  have  occasionally  bagged  an  unwary 
gold-digger,  and  his  kit  has  been  added  to  their  own 
imperfect  implements  of  chase.  But  they  have  never 
been  able  to  obtain  ammunition,  and  so  the  rifles  in 
their  camp  are  of  no  use.  The  traders  and  farmers 
on  the  border  lands,  with  whom  these  Indians  have 
to  come  in  contact,  have  always  been  alive  to  their 
own  interests.  They  have  prudently  refused  to  sell 
firearms  or  ammunition.  If  the  Onas  were  able  to 
obtain  guns  and  supplies  they  would  clear  their 
island  of  pale-faced  settlers  in  less  than  a  month. 

With  the  bow  and  arrow  as  their  sole  implement 
of  chase  the  Onas  roam  about,  always  in  the  foot- 
prints of  the  guanaco,  from  the  barren  interior 
mountains  to  the  forest-covered  lowlands,  and  during 
the  winter  from  the  forests  over  the  pampas  to  the 
sea  shore.  If  they  fail  in  securing  their  favoured 
game,  the  guanaco,  they  capture  a  kind  of  ground 
rat  or  gather  the  snails  and  mussels  of  the  beach ; 
but  the  one  aim  of  life  is  to  hunt  guanaco. 

I  wish  I  could  paint  a  picture  or  secure  a  photo- 
graph of  this  chase.  It  is  certainly  a  most  charm- 
ing bit  of  aboriginal  life.      Day  after  day,  the  whole 

109 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

family  marches  over  wind-swept  plains,  through  icy 
streams,  into  regions  seemingly  ever  deserted  by 
animal  life.  The  women  and  children  travel  in  one 
group,  generally  in  gullies,  winding  around  low  hills 
where  they  are  out  of  sight  of  the  game.  The  men 
scatter  about  as  sentinels,  mounting  little  elevations 
now  and  then,  to  search,  with  their  eagle  eyes,  the 
undulating  plains  for  a  herd  of  guanaco.  When  on 
this  weary  chase  they  are  always  hungry  and  gener- 
ally but  half-clothed.  The  sick  and  the  helpless  aged 
are  left  by  the  wayside  to  starve  or  support  life  as 
best  they  can,  while  the  more  vigorous  individuals 
go  on  and  on  famine-stricken  until  they  come  upon 
their  game. 

When  in  sight  of  guanaco  the  men  seek  to  sur- 
round the  entire  herd  by  creeping  on  hands  and  feet 
and  covering  their  bodies  with  a  robe  to  imitate  the 
animals.  As  they  close  in  on  them  they  rise,  drop 
their  robes,  and  spring  naked  upon  the  guanaco, 
killing  such  as  they  can  with  arrows.  Then,  as 
the  animals  stand  in  utter  amazement,  they  rush 
upon  them  with  knives  and  clubs.  In  this  onslaught 
they  often  secure  the  entire  herd.  Next,  a  glutton- 
ous hilarity  begins,  which  knows  no  bounds.  It 
continues  while  the  meat  lasts  and  then  famine  is 
again  their  lot.  Thus  their  life  is  one  of  short 
feasts  divided  by  long  famines. 

The  matter  of  clothing  with  the  Ona  is  a  very 
simple  affair ;  although  the  climate  of  their  region  is 
cold,  stormy  and  even  humid,  they  are  very  imper- 
fectly dressed.  The  children  run  about  in  the  snows 
either  naked  or  nearly  so.     The  men  have  a  large 

no 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

mantle  made  of  several  guanaco-skins  sewn  together. 
This  reaches  from  the  shoulders  to  the  feet,  but  it  is 
not  attached  by  either  buttons  or  strings ;  it  is  sim- 
ply held  about  the  shoulders  by  the  hands.  The 
woman,  when  well  dressed,  wears  a  piece  of  fur  at- 
tached about  the  waist  and  another  loosely  thrown 
about  the  shoulders,  but  she  is  not  often  well  dressed 
and  must  generally  be  contented  with  a  kind  of  man- 
tle, carelessly  suspended  from  the  shoulders,  which  is 
allowed  to  fall  upon  the  slightest  provocation. 

Nothing  could  be  less  like  our  idea  of  a  home 
than  an  Ona  house.  It  is  proof  to  none  of  the  dis- 
comforts of  Fuegian  climate.  Rain,  snow,  and  wind 
enter  it  freely,  for  it  is  a  simple  accumulation  of  tree 
branches  thrown  together  in  the  easiest  possible 
manner.  Sometimes  it  has  a  conical  shape,  but 
more  often  it  is  only  a  crescent  or  breastwork,  be- 
hind which  the  entire  family  sit  or  sleep.  To  the 
windward  are  thrown  a  number  of  skins  to  keep  out 
the  full  blast  of  the  wind,  but  from  overhead  the  cold 
rains  drizzle  over  poorly  clad  bodies,  while  the  ground 
is  always  uncovered  and  cold.  In  the  centre  of  this 
circle  of  shivering  humanity,  or  just  outside  of  it,  is 
a  camp-fire  which,  however,  serves  better  for  cook- 
ing purposes  than  for  heating.  The  arrangement  of 
the  house  is  such  that  the  heat  all  escapes.  At  night 
the  fires  are  allowed  to  go  out,  and  the  adults, 
lying  in  a  circle,  place  the  children  in  the  centre,  with 
blankets  of  guanaco-skins  spread  over  all.  To  keep 
the  blankets  from  being  blown  off,  and  to  add  addi- 
tional warmth,  they  next  call  the  dogs,  who  take  their 
positions  on  the  top  of  the  entire  mass  of  quivering 

III 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

Indians.  In  former  years  it  was  a  poverty  stricken 
family  who  had  not  enough  dogs  to  cover  it  out  of 
sight ;  but  the  shepherds  have  now  killed  the  dogs, 
and  the  Indians  must  rest  cold  and  comfortless  with- 
out their  canine  bedfellows. 

There  seems  to  be  considerable  love  expended 
among  the  members  of  an  Ona  family.  It  is  kindled 
with  the  first  days  of  childhood,  and  it  is  still  burn- 
ing at  ripe  old  age.  It  is,  however,  a  love  which 
is  never  appreciated  by  a  white  man,  nor  is  it  ever 
tendered  to  him  except  for  little  spasmodic  periods. 
Nothing  illustrates  this  point  better  than  the  experi- 
ence of  the  pale-faced  new-comers.  Everybody 
who  goes  as  a  pioneer  to  the  Cape  Horn  region  is 
a  bachelor.  All  buy,  borrow,  or  steal  wives  when 
they  decide  to  settle  down  upon  a  gold-mine  or  a 
sheep-farm.  The  Indian  women,  it  must  be  con- 
fessed, are  not  unwilling  to  be  bought  or  stolen,  but 
they  are  not  to  the  white  man  what  they  are  to  the 
copper- faced  rival.  In  the  Indian  household  she 
may  be  but  one  of  several  wives ;  she  can  claim  only 
a  small  share  of  her  husband's  affection  ;  she  must 
work  hard,  is  poorly  dressed,  and  is  always  half- 
starved  ;  but  she  prefers  this  life  as  a  steady  thing  to 
the  entire  heart  of  a  pale-face,  with  the  luxuries 
which  he  brings  her. 

One  miner,  a  man  with  considerable  experience 
and  a  collegiate  education,  gave  me  the  following 
story  bearing  on  the  behaviour  of  the  women  of 
Fireland : 

''The  Ona  girl  is  a  queer  and  unnatural  being; 
she  may  live  with  a  white  man,  or  even  be  lawfully 

112 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

wedded  to  him,  but  tender  sentiments  like  love  for 
her  white  admirer  never  enter  or  leave  her  dusky 
bosom.  I  came  here  ten  years  ago  and  struck  a 
pay  dig.  I  hadn't  time  to  go  home  to  look  for  a 
new  or  to  bring  out  an  old  sweetheart.  Some  In- 
dians always  remained  unfriendly,  but  a  few  came 
with  good  intentions  to  the  camp  ;  these  would  now 
and  then  leave  one  or  two  of  their  wives  for  me  to 
feed  and  dress,  and  in  this  way  I  learned  to  like 
them.  One  day  there  came  to  the  camp  an  old 
couple  with  a  young  and  bewitching  daughter.  She 
was  only  fourteen  years  old,  but  in  form  and  manner 
she  was  just  the  jewel  a  gold-digger  would  be  likely 
to  pick  up.  I  knew  a  little  smattering  of  the  native 
lingo  and  began  to  talk  love  to  the  girl  at  once ;  she 
didn't  seem  to  understand  me.  All  the  tender  and 
nice  things  I  tried  to  say  seemed  to  be  wasted.  I 
talked  to  the  parents ;  they  quickly  understood  me, 
but  they  said  a  red  woman  might  admire  and  re- 
spect a  pale-face,  but  the  warm  fire,  which  was  the 
principal  charm  of  an  Ona  woman,  was  never  kindled 
by  a  white  man. 

''  In  a  short  time  I  had  learned  to  love  the  girl, 
and  she  didn't  seem  to  hate  me,  so  I  asked  the 
parents  if  they  would  not  leave  her  with  me  for  a 
while  that  she  might  learn  to  like  me,  but  they  ob- 
jected, whereupon  I  determined  to  steal  her.  After 
a  lonely  walk  one  evening  in  the  forests,  she  agreed 
to  be  stolen.  When  the  family  left  for  the  moun- 
tains I  followed  and  picked  the  apple  of  my  eye. 
Things  went  along  happily  —  the  honeymoon  was 
a  short  dream,   and  the  parents,  for  a  long  time, 

^13 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

did  not  come  to  disturb  me.  I  congratulated  myself 
upon  the  success  of  my  theft.  Later,  however,  I 
learned  that  the  parents  knew  about  it  all  the  time. 
I  dressed  the  girl  in  expensive  clothes,  for  which  I 
had  sent  three  thousand  miles ;  fed  her  three  full 
meals  daily ;  built  a  nice  warm  hut ;  and  did  nearly 
all  the  camp  work  myself.  She  had  not  been  fully 
dressed  before,  never  had  more  than  one  meal  a 
day,  sometimes  not  one  square  fill  in  a  week, 
and  at  home  she  always  worked  like  a  slave,  shiver- 
ing out  a  miserable,  homeless  existence  in  the  for- 
ests. I  showered  her  with  luxuries  and  kind,  gentle 
treatment. 

*'  By  this  means,  and  by  another  which  I  shall 
mention  presently,  I  was  generally  able  to  keep  her 
as  a  permanent  fixture  about  my  household.  About 
once  a  week,  however,  she  found  it  necessary  to  go 
into  the  forests  to  gather  certain  fungi,  which  she 
said  were  necessary  for  her  health.  At  first  she  re- 
turned promptly  from  these  little  jaunts  and  she 
always  seemed  livelier  and  refreshed  by  the  recrea- 
tion, but  later  she  remained  away  one  or  two  days 
at  a  time.  This  absence  I  could  not  endure,  so  I 
sought  the  reason  for  it  and  found  that  she  was 
meeting  a  big,  manly  young  buck.  I  could  not 
blame  her  for  being  enamoured  with  him  for  I  ad- 
mired him  myself.  I  took  him  into  our  camp  and 
ever  since  there  has  been  peace,  and  restfulness,  and 
divided  love  in  our  wild  home." 

This  suggests  a  consideration  of  the  aboriginal 
marriage  relations,  and  the  arrangement  of  the  bonds 
of   the    family    institution.     Marriage,    like    almost 

114 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

everything  Ona,  is  not  fixed  by  established  rules. 
It  is  arranged  and  rearranged  from  time  to  time  to 
the  convenience  of  the  contracting  parties.  Women 
generally  have  very  little  to  say  about  it.  The 
bargain  is  made  almost  solely  by  the  men,  and  physi- 
cal force  is  the  principal  bond  of  union.  For  ages 
the  strongest  bucks  have  been  accustomed  to  steal 
females  from  neighbouring  tribes,  and  from  neigh- 
bouring clans  of  their  own  tribe.  The  Onas  being 
by  far  the  most  powerful  Indians,  have  thus  been 
able  to  capture  and  retain  a  liberal  supply  of  wives. 
This  easy  gain  of  women  has  made  polygamy  a  ne- 
cessity, and  the  system  is  not  condemned  by  men 
familiar  with  the  people.  A  missionary  who  has 
been  in  constant  contact  with  these  Indians  for  thirty 
years  gives  it  as  his  opinion  that  a  plurality  of  wives 
was  entirely  satisfactory  to  their  peculiar  emotions 
and  habits  of  life. 

The  relation  between  the  women  who  possess  but 
one  husband  in  common  in  the  family  wigwam  is  of 
novel  interest.  As  a  rule,  they  are  no  more  jealous 
of  each  other,  or  of  their  husbands,  than  our  children 
in  the  home  circle.  The  principal  reason  for  this  is 
that  the  several  wives  are  often  sisters.  A  young 
man  takes  by  force,  by  mutual  agreement,  or  by 
barter,  the  oldest  daughter  of  a  family.  If  he  proves 
himself  a  good  hunter  and  a  kind  husband,  the  wife 
persuades  her  sister  to  join  her  wigwam,  and  share 
her  husband's  affections.  Frequently,  when  a  girl 
is  left  an  orphan,  she  is  taken  into  a  family  and 
trained  to  become  the  supplementary  wife  of  her 
benefactor  in  after  years.     In  the  hut  each  wife  has 

115 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

her  own  assigned  position,  always  resting  in  exactly 
the  same  spot,  with  all  of  her  belongings  about  her. 
The  wealth  of  the  household  is  not  common  to  all 
the  occupants.  Each  woman  has  her  own  basket  of 
meat  fragments  or  shell-fish ;  her  own  bag  with  im- 
plements, needles,  sinews,  and  bits  of  fur,  and  each 
wife  has  her  own  assemblage  of  children. 

The  unwritten  laws  which  govern  the  actions  of 
the  tribe  as  a  whole  are  very  vaguely  understood. 
There  never  has  been  any  very  great  need  for  the 
Onas  to  assemble  and  unite  against  an  enemy. 
Any  one  of  the  numerous  clans  under  one  chief 
has  been  more  than  equal  to  overcome  the  feeble  on- 
slaughts by  other  Indians  and  white  men.  Hence 
the  lack  of  tribunal  organisation.  In  the  family, 
however,  the  relations  are  firmly  fixed  by  habits 
which  never  change.  The  loose  arrangement  of 
marriage  and  divorce  does  not  seem  to  disturb  seri- 
ously the  equilibrium  of  the  home  circle.  The  camp 
is  pitched  from  day  to  day  at  convenient  spots  for 
the  chase.  This  makes  elaborate  houses  or  complex 
fixtures  impossible.  It  never  requires  more  than  a 
half  hour  to  build  an  Ona  house.  The  work  of  the 
man  is  strictly  limited  to  the  chase.  He  carries 
his  bow  and  quiver  of  arrows ;  and  his  eye  is  ever 
on  the  horizon  for  game ;  but  he  seldom  stoops 
to  anything  like  manual  labour  which  is  not  con- 
nected with  the  actual  necessities  of  the  chase.  He 
kills  the  game,  but  the  wife  must  carry  it  into  camp. 
In  moving  the  women  take  up  all  of  their  earthly 
possessions,  pack  them  into  a  huge  roll,  and,  with 
this  firmly  strapped  across  their  backs,  they  follow 

ii6 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

the  unencumbered  lead  of  their  brave  but  ungallant 
husbands.  Thus  the  women  carry,  day  after  day, 
not  only  all  the  household  furniture,  but  the  children 
and  the  portable  portions  of  the  house.  The  women 
certainly  have  all  the  uninteresting  detail  and  the 
drudgery  of  life  heaped  upon  them,  but  they  seem 
to  enjoy  it.  In  defence  of  the  men  it  should  be  said 
that  they  are  worthy  husbands.  They  will  fight 
fiercely  to  protect  their  homes,  and  they  will  guard 
the  honour  of  their  women  with  their  own  blood. 
It  is  a  crying  sin  of  the  advance  of  Christian  civili- 
sation that  this  redman  of  the  far  south  should  be 
compelled  to  lay  down  his  life  at  the  feet  of  the 
heartless  pale-faced  invaders,  to  shield  the  honour 
of  his  home. 

I  doubt  if  regular  missionary  work  will  improve  the 
hard  lot  of  this  noble  band  of  human  strugglers.  The 
efforts  thus  far  made  have  certainly  had  the  contrary 
effect,  and  altogether  they  do  not  need  a  new  system 
of  morals  as  badly  as  we  do  ourselves.  I  do  not 
mean  to  infer  that  missionary  work,  in  general,  is 
hurtful  to  aborigines.  There  is  a  legitimate  field  for 
such  efforts,  but  it  is  not  among  Onas,  unless  the 
work  is  conducted  in  a  new  manner  by  a  thoroughly 
practical  man.  They  need  to  be  placed  in  a  position 
where  they  may  follow  their  wild  habits  without  the 
infectious  degeneration  of  higher  life.  Individually 
and  collectively  they  have  fewer  sins  than  New 
Yorkers.  It  is  true  that  there  are  among  them  no 
faultless  characters,  but  there  are  also  no  great 
criminals.  There  are  some  good  and  others  bad, 
but  the  worst  and  the  best  are  found  side  by  side. 

117 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

The  bitter  and  the  sweet  of  human  Hfe  among  them, 
flows  in  the  same  stream.  It  has  the  same  origin, 
and  the  same  termination.  The  lesson  of  ages  to  un- 
tutored man  has  impressed  upon  him  a  prescription 
of  moral  direction,  which  is  quite  as  good  as  and  far 
more  appropriate  for  him  than  the  white  man's  code 
of  ethics. 


ii8 


CHAPTER   IX 
DISCOVERIES   IN    A   NEW   WORLD  OF   ICE 

On  January  3,  1898,  we  started  eastward  through 
Beagle  Channel,  intending  to  push  southward  at 
once,  but  an  incident  happened  which  changed  our 
progress  and  also  disturbed  our  ease  of  mind.  This 
incident  proved  to  be  the  Belgicas  first  geograph- 
ical discovery.  While  trying  to  find  Harbourton,  a 
missionary  station  on  the  south-eastern  shore  of  the 
main  island  of  Tierra  del  Fuego,  she  struck  a  reef. 

We  were  steaming  eastward  through  Beagle 
Channel.  It  was  late  at  night,  and  before  us  there 
was  the  dim  outline  of  a  long  panorama  of  islands ; 
behind  lay  the  ice-covered  mountains  of  the  tail  of 
the  Cordilleras.  On  each  side  were  the  black  forest- 
covered  steeps  of  the  wild  and  melancholy  Fuegian 
Islands.  At  1 1  o'clock  the  twilight  was  still  pour- 
ing over  the  white  glacial  sheets  of  the  west ;  the 
tops  of  the  islands  were  aglow  with  a  curious  pearly 
light.  The  water  was  as  smooth  as  that  of  the  Hud- 
son, but  deep  down  rested  the  feeble  white  reflections 
of  the  mountain  heights.  The  coastal  outline  was 
indeterminable.     We  pushed  along  slowly,  search- 

119 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

ing  bay  after  bay  for  some  signs  of  human  life. 
On  a  neck  of  land  an  object  was  reported  which 
might  be  a  house,  but  we  could  not  decide  the  ques- 
tion even  with  our  best  telescopes.  We  aimed  for 
it.  In  a  few  minutes  we  discovered  that  our  progress 
through  the  water  was  arrested.  This  was  a  mys- 
tery to  us.  The  engines  were  forced  to  their  limits, 
but  we  remained  stationary.  Soundings  indicated 
that  we  were  aground  on  a  reef  of  rocks,  but  we 
had  gone  on  so  easily  that  no  one  had  felt  a  jar. 
We  hoped  the  tide  would  rise  and  lift  us  off,  but  it 
fell  and  left  us  stranded.  At  4  o'clock  in  the  morn- 
ing the  Belgica  began  to  careen,  and  at  6  o'clock 
she  had  a  list,  making  it  impossible  to  stand  on  the 
floor.  We  tried  to  brace  her  up  with  spars,  but 
they  broke  like  pipe-stems.  We  now  made  out  the 
object  on  shore  to  be  a  house  and  saw  also  some  signs 
of  life  about  it.  Presently  a  group  of  men  came 
from  it  to  us.  They  were  Indians,  under  the  direction 
of  Mr.  Lucas  Bridges,  a  sheep-farmer.  Mr.  Bridges 
volunteered  to  help  us  in  our  efforts  to  save  the 
ship.  I  went  ashore  with  him  to  get  the  services 
of  as  many  Indians  as  possible.  The  sailors  and 
the  Indians,  working  side  by  side,  began  at  once 
to  lighten  the  ship  by  removing  cargo  to  the 
shores.  Only  two  or  three  boat-loads  were  landed 
when  a  sudden  storm  rolled  down  the  gullies  from 
the  high  mountains  to  the  north-westward,  piling  up  a 
sea  which  made  further  communication  with  the  ship 
impossible.  From  the  shore  we  could  see  the  Bel- 
gica rock  and  roll  in  response  to  every  gust  of  wind 
which  passed  over  us.     On  the  shore  and  on  the 

120 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

ship  there  was  little  hope  of  saving  the  vessel.  Fol- 
lowing a  tremendous  squall  we  saw  the  Belgian 
colours  go  up  and  then  felt  relieved  of  fear.  She 
drifted  with  the  wind  and  in  an  hour  disappeared 
behind  a  black  head  of  land.  The  next  day  she  re- 
turned and  reported  no  serious  injury. 

From  Harbourton  we  steamed  eastward  to  the 
storm-washed  shores  of  Staten  Island,  where  we 
took  our  last  water-supply,  and  bade  our  friends  and 
the  known  world  a  final  adieu.  From  the  time  we 
left  Staten  Island,  on  January  13,  1898,  until  our 
return  to  Punta  Arenas,  on  March  28,  1899,  we  were 
in  another  world — a  new  icy  world,  where  communi- 
cation with  home  regions  was  impossible.  We  had 
troubles  of  our  own,  and  a  little  warfare,  too  —  but 
we  were  totally  ignorant  of  the  Spanish-American 
War,  the  Dreyfus  case,  and  the  other  great  national 
and  international  troubles  which  had  made  history 
in  our  absence. 

Our  first  large  task  was  the  seemingly  impossible 
work  of  making  a  map  of  the  sea  bottom  and  a  study 
of  the  waters  south  of  Cape  Horn.  This  is  a  belt 
of  ocean  famous  as  being  swept  by  the  most  destruc- 
tive storms  on  the  globe.  It  is  difiicult  enough  for  or- 
dinary navigation,  but  to  attempt  to  remain  station- 
ary for  three  or  four  hours  daily,  and  sink  a  wire  two 
miles,  with  delicate  instruments  attached,  was  a  ven- 
ture which  did  not  appeal  to  us  with  much  promise 
of  success.  We  were  favoured,  however,  with  good 
weather  until  we  got  a  glimpse  of  the  South  Shetland 
Islands,  and  were  thus  able  to  make  a  line  of  sound- 
ings across   the  previously  unfathomed   sea.     The 

121 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

general  depth  here  was  considerable.  After  passing 
over  a  narrow  submarine  shelf  south  of  Staten  Island, 
the  lead  dropped  suddenly  to  13,300  feet.  The 
ocean-bed  then  rose  gradually  in  an  easy  slope  to  the 
South  Shetland  Islands,  thus  proving  a  rather  sharp 
disconnection  between  the  mountain-ranges  of  south- 
ern South  America  and  those  of  the  imperfectly 
known  antarctic  lands. 

The  first  iceberg  was  met  the  day  before  we  saw 
the  snowy  outline  of  the  South  Shetlands.  It  ap- 
peared a  long  way  off,  over  our  port  bow,  at  about 
8  o'clock  in  the  evening  of  January  19th.  We 
all  went  on  deck  to  get  a  glimpse  of  our  first  antarc- 
tic berg,  but  we  made  no  efforts  to  get  nearer.  The 
sky  was  sooty,  and  the  air  so  heavy  that  the  coming 
twilight  was  lost  in  a  gloomy  mist.  Around  the 
dull  white  mass  there  was  a  cloud  of  vapour  which 
rose  and  fell,  now  offering  a  peep  at  the  strange 
block  of  ice,  and  again  veiling  it  from  view.  Half 
sorry  to  leave  it  without  further  observation,  we 
steamed  onward  until  it  sank  into  the  stormy  sea 
over  our  port  quarter. 

The  night  which  followed  was  dark.  The  sea 
rolled  under  our  stern  in  huge  inky  mountains,  while 
the  wind  scraped  the  deck  with  an  icy  edge.  We 
kept  a  sharp  lookout  for  icebergs,  which  might  come 
suddenly  into  our  path  out  of  the  impenetrable  dark- 
ness ahead.  The  sudden  fall  of  the  temperature  and 
the  stinging,  penetrating  character  of  the  wind  seemed 
to  warn  us  that  ice  was  near ;  but  we  encountered 
none.  Life  was  plentiful,  but  melancholy.  Curious 
albatrosses  and  petrels  hovered  about  us,  uttering 
strange  cries,  and  in  the  water  there  was  an  occa- 

122 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

sional  spout  from  a  whale.  It  was  a  night  of  uncer- 
tainty, of  anticipation,  of  discomfort  —  an  experience 
which  only  those  who  have  gone  through  the  wilder- 
ness of  an  unknown  sea  can  understand. 

The  morning  dawned,  as  it  usually  does  over  Cape 
Horn  seas,  without  the  sun,  and  with  a  smoky,  low, 
lead-streaked  sky.  At  noon  the  icy  mist  overhead 
melted  and  an  occasional  sunburst  gave  life  and 
colour  to  the  scene.  Our  soundings  indicated  a 
proximity  to  land,  which  caused  us  to  skim  the  hori- 
zon constantly  through  our  glasses  with  keen  inter- 
est. A  small  white  speck  here  and  there  indicated 
distant  icebergs.  At  about  three  o'clock  in  the  after- 
'noon  a  series  of  low  pyramidal  masses  appeared 
under  the  southern  sky.  It  was  like  a  bank  of  blue 
fog  fringed  with  snowy  bands.  The  whole  length  of 
our  seaboard  formed  an  ill-defined,  cloud-like  aggre- 
gation resting  on  the  black  waters  and  extending 
the  entire  length  from  north-east  to  south-west.  As 
we  steamed  on,  the  central  groups  became  more  dis- 
tinct and  the  whole  line  rose  above  the  horizon.  We 
now  recognised  it  as  the  northern  exposure  of  the 
South  Shetland  Islands.  During  the  afternoon  a 
gentle  but  piercing  wind  came  from  the  land,  bring- 
ing with  it  a  glassy  air  and  an  easy,  silvery  sea,  over 
which  the  new  land  stood  out  in  bold  relief  We 
could  distinguish  Livingston  Island  over  our  port 
bow,  and  north-eastward,  melting  into  the  blue  airy 
distance,  were  numerous  similar  islands.  Over  our 
starboard  bow  was  Smith  Island,  its  base  still  under 
the  water,  and  its  table-topped  crest  rising  into 
mouse-coloured  clouds,  sixty  miles  away. 

We   hoped  that  the  night  would   not  again  be 

123 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

darkened  by  the  ever-present  black  mist,  and  pushed 
rapidly  landward  to  get  a  good  view  before  mid- 
night. But  this  was  not  to  be,  for  as  the  sun  sank 
in  the  south-west  the  wind  came  out  of  the  north-east 
with  a  sooty  smoke  which  blocked  out  our  horizon. 
The  distance  was  too  great  to  make  a  good  study  of 
the  land.  In  a  general  way  this  coast-line  resembles 
the  northern  parts  of  the  Greenland  landscape. 
About  the  largest  islands  there  are  many  small,  ice- 
free  isles,  or  rocks,  which  serve  as  resting-places  for 
seals,  penguins,  cormorants,  and  gulls.  On  the 
larger  islands,  and  especially  on  Livingston  Island, 
there  are  high  peaks  and  rounded,  dome-like  hills, 
which  are  crowned  with  snow,  but  whose  sides  are 
mostly  bare  and  wind-rasped.  The  valleys  are 
filled  with  huge  glaciers,  which  send  tongues  out  to 
the  sea.  We  saw  no  glaciers,  however,  which  came 
out  from  any  distance  into  the  water.  The  limit  of 
the  ice  was  generally  at  high-water  mark,  where  it 
wasted  away  in  small  fragments.  From  what  we 
later  learned  of  the  lands  farther  south,  it  is 
extremely  probable  that  moss  and  lichens  are  here 
abundant,  but  there  is  no  hope  for  grass  or  trees. 

It  is  very  curious  that  this  group  of  islands,  about 
one  hundred  in  number,  with  a  thousand  miles  of 
accessible  coast-line,  and  several  good  harbours,  free 
of  ice  for  much  of  the  year,  should  remain  unclaimed 
by  any  government,  and  unsettled  by  human  efforts. 
It  would  be  a  humane  mission  if  our  government 
would  take  possession  of  these  islands,  and  place 
there  a  light-house,  with  a  supply  station,  for  the 
preservation  of  ship-wrecked  sailors.     Vessels  are 

124 


ANTARCTIC   NIGHT 

lost  in  this  vicinity  almost  every  year,  and  we  do 
not  know  but  that  some  poor  seamen  are  not  now 
stranded  on  one  of  the  many  desolate  islands,  await- 
ing the  relief  which  never  comes. 

During  the  night  of  the  20th,  the  ship  was  kept 
moving  slowly  southward.  It  was  another  night  of 
anxiety,  though  there  were  few  icebergs  about,  and 
no  pack-ice ;  yet  the  proximity  to  an  unknown  coast 
and  the  uncertainty  of  our  position,  with  unsettled 
weather,  made  us  all  but  comfortable.  In  the 
morning  it  was  misty.  Numerous  small  icebergs 
were  about  us,  and  while  trying  to  dodge  these  we 
made  another  discovery  —  we  struck  a  rock.  This 
time  we  did  not  go  on  to  it  as  easily  as  we  did  in 
Beagle  Channel.  We  struck  with  a  force  that 
made  the  ship  tremble  and  crack  from  stem  to 
stern.  We  needed  no  call  to  come  on  deck,  but 
after  reaching  it,  we  could  not  see  what  had  hap- 
pened. 

*'  We  struck  an  iceberg,"  some  one  said. 

**  Yes  ;  a  black  one,"  said  Knudsen. 

A  few  moments  later  the  fog  lifted,  and  we  saw 
white  crests  and  black  rocks  about  us  on  every  side. 
The  good  old  ship  was  turned ;  she  rolled  off  and 
struck  two  or  three  other  rocks,  and  then  steamed 
away,  none  the  worse  for  it.  As  we  withdrew  we 
watched  the  small  icebergs  being  dashed  to  pieces 
on  the  same  rocks,  and  wondered  if  that  would  not 
be  our  fate  with  the  next  encounter. 

At  about  noon  on  the  21st,  the  horizon  cleared  a 
little,  giving  us  an  opportunity  to  pass  safely  from 
the  rocks  and  bergs  around  us.   Sail  Rock  was  visible 

125 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

on  our  port,  but  nothing  else  except  the  dim  outline  of 
Deception  Island  and  the  rocks  eastward.  Sail 
Rock  is  remarkable  from  a  distance;  it  has  the 
appearance  of  a  ship  under  sail;  but  at  close 
range  it  is  more  like  a  house  with  a  gable-roof.  It 
is  a  solid  rock  about  four  hundred  feet  high,  a  thou- 
sand feet  long,  and  five  hundred  feet  wide.  The 
sides  for  three  or  four  hundred  feet  are  perpendicular, 
offering  no  beach,  and  no  ledge  as  a  resting-place 
for  birds,  except  at  the  peak.  As  we  had  Sail  Rock 
over  our  quarter,  the  weather  changed ;  the  bright 
gray  of  the  waters  became  black,  the  sky  grew 
lead-coloured,  and  penguins  jumped  out  of  the  water 
and  then  rushed  through  it  landward  with  electric 
swiftness,  as  if  to  warn  us  of  a  coming  storm.  The 
storm,  however,  did  not  come  until  the  morning  of 
the  2  2d. 

This  storm  proved  to  us  a  melancholy  affair.  The 
wind  at  first  was  not  strong  or  steady,  but  the  sea 
which  rolled  under  our  starboard  quarter  tossed  us 
about  upon  its  bosom  as  a  child  does  a  toy.  Occa- 
sionally it  broke  over  us  amidship,  flooding  the 
laboratory  and  the  galley.  There  was  a  large  quan- 
tity of  coal  on  the  decks,  and  some  of  this  was  car- 
ried by  the  swash  into  the  scuppers,  making  escape 
of  the  water  impossible.  To  free  the  scuppers  one  of 
our  youngest  sailors  —  Wiencke  —  was  at  work  peri- 
odically during  much  of  his  watch.  In  the  afternoon 
the  tempest  increased  and  gathered  force  hour  after 
hour.  Great  seas  broke  over  us  with  increasing 
violence,  while  the  wind  came  and  went  with  a  can- 
non-like roar.     Everything  movable   on  the  decks 

126 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

was  swept  overboard.  At  about  three  o'clock  in  the 
afternoon  Amundsen  and  I  were  on  the  bridge, 
straining  our  eyes  and  levelling  our  glasses  on  a 
mysterious  black  object  ahead,  directly  in  our 
course;  while  thus  engaged,  we  heard  an  unearthly 
cry, —  a  cry  which  made  me  shiver  because  of  its 
force  and  painful  tone.  We  turned  about  quickly, 
but  saw  nothing  to  indicate  the  direction  of  the 
noise.  Amundsen,  thinking  there  had  been  an  acci- 
dent in  the  engine-room,  rushed  in  that  direction. 
I  went  aft  to  the  quarter-deck,  and,  looking 
astern,  saw  a  man  struggling  among  the  foamy 
crests.  It  was  Wiencke  —  in  trying  to  free  the 
scuppers  he  had  lost  his  balance,  and  in  falling,  he 
had  uttered  the  awful  cry  which  had  startled  us.  With 
quick  presence  of  mind  he  sought  the  log-line  and 
grasped  it.  I  caught  hold  of  the  other  end,  and  be- 
gan to  draw  it  slowly  in,  but  he  slipped  until  his  hand 
was  stopped  by  the  log;  upon  this  he  held  with  a 
death-like  grasp.  Before  I  had  pulled  in  the  full 
length  of  the  line  everybody  was  on  deck ;  but  there 
was  little  to  be  done.  With  the  sea  tossing  the  ship 
about  like  a  chip,  and  the  wind  blowing  a  gale,  it  was 
impossible  to  lower  a  boat.  As  I  brought  Wiencke 
close  to  the  stern,  Lecointe,  with  a  bravery  impossi- 
ble to  appreciate,  volunteered  to  be  lowered  into  the 
icy  sea  to  pass  a  rope  around  the  poor  fellow.  He 
followed  his  offer  with  demands  for  a  i:ope,  which 
was  securely  fastened  around  his  waist.  With  two 
men  at  the  rope,  Lecointe  was  lowered  into  the 
churning  waters,  but  he  sank  at  once  with  the 
counter-eddies,  and  nearly  lost  his  own  life  without 

127 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

being  able  to  keep  near  Wiencke.  Lecolnte  was 
raised,  and  without  delay  or  undue  excitement,  we 
managed  to  tow  Wiencke  to  the  side  of  the  ship, 
where  we  expected  to  lower  another  man.  But  while 
we  were  doing  this,  he  gave  up  his  grip  on  the  log  and 
sank.  We  waited  there  for  an  hour,  but  saw  no 
more  of  our  unfortunate  shipmate.  Wiencke  was  a 
boy  with  many  friends,  and  his  absence  was  deeply 
felt  in  our  little  party. 

Before  night  the  fog  raised,  and  exposed  under  it 
a  continuous  wall  of  ice  about  one  hundred  and  fifty 
feet  high,  extending  as  far  eastward  and  westward 
as  we  could  see.  At  first  we  thought  it  an  iceberg. 
It  had  every  resemblance  to  one,  but  its  enormous 
size  led  us  into  doubts.  We  steamed  eastward, 
keeping  from  it  a  distance  of  about  four  miles,  and 
presently  were  able  to  make  out  a  black  line  above 
the  water,  which  later  we  determined  to  be  rocks. 
Around  the  eastern  termination  were  a  number  of 
small  peaks  of  volcanic  rocks,  and  from  them  came, 
first  the  odour  of  guano-beds,  and  then  the  deaf- 
ening squawk — gha-a-ah,  gha-a-ah, — of  countless 
millions  of  penguins.  This  was  Low  Island.  We 
rested  here  in  the  lee  of  its  walls  for  the  night,  but 
owing  to  persistent  fogs  we  did  not  get  a  glimpse  of 
its  interior. 

On  the  morning  of  the  23d  the  sea  was  easier  but 
choppy,  and  the  weather  offered  promises  of  clear- 
ing. We  took  advantage  of  the  conditions  to  cross 
Bransfield  Strait,  which  separates  the  South  Shet- 
lands   from    the    mainlands   of   the    true    antarctic. 

128 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

The  promise  of  a  clear  horizon  was  not  realised,  for 
it  remained  misty  all  day.  Icebergs  were  passed 
in  great  numbers,  most  of  them  being  table-topped 
and  square  cut,  with  great  blue  lines,  crevasses,  and 
cavities.  The  mist  destroyed  the  fine  outlines  and 
the  fascinating  colours  of  the  ice.  The  knife-like 
corners  of  the  crowns  were  ill-defined,  and  the  usual 
exquisite  blues  and  greens  were  covered  by  the 
gloomy  gray  of  the  sky.  There  was  about  these 
bergs,  even  with  their  subdued  colours,  something 
wildly  picturesque,  but  there  was  also  a  real  danger 
in  our  proximity  to  them  in  hazy  weather. 

Historically  the  record  of  our  predecessors  in 
the  region  which  we  are  about  to  enter  is  short. 
Early  in  the  twenties  the  islands  about  Cape  Horn 
and  the  South  Shetlands  were  besieged  by  Ameri- 
can fur  sealers.  They  did  their  work  of  execution 
so  thoroughly  that  in  the  short  period  of  five  years 
almost  the  entire  race  of  fur  seals  was  exterminated. 
One  of  these  sealers.  Captain  Nathaniel  Palmer,  in  a 
little  shallop  of  forty  tons,  while  seeking  new  sealing 
grounds  southward,  found  an  extensive  country  cov- 
ered with  ice  and  inhabited  by  penguins  and  seals. 
Some  years  later  Captain  Biscoe,  a  British  sea-ele- 
phant hunter,  saw  a  part  of  the  same  country  some- 
what farther  to  the  south-west,  and  still  later  a 
German  sealer,  Dallman,  saw  a  part  of  the  same 
northern  coast.  To  Palmer  belongs  the  honour  of 
the  discovery  of  this  vast  tract  of  land.  It  is  a  dis- 
appointment that  his  records  are  so  imperfect,  but 
the  record  of  everything  antarctic  is  of  a  similar 
nature,     Palmer  has  been  forgotten  by  his  own  coun- 

129 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

trymen  and  ignored  by  foreign  cartographers.  In 
the  arrangement  of  the  new  chart  the  Belgian  Ex- 
pedition will  attempt  to  place  his  name  where  it 
belongs — on  the  land  which  he  saw  first  of  all  men. 

At  3  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  of  the  23d  a  curious 
white  haze  appeared  upon  the  southern  sky.  A 
little  later  an  imperfect  outline  of  land  rose  into  this 
haze.  It  extended  as  far  as  we  could  see  to  the  east 
and  to  the  west.  The  top  was  everywhere  veiled 
by  a  high  mist,  and  this  mist  had  within  it  a  mys- 
terious light,  which  is  one  of  the  most  startling  of 
all  the  south  polar  effects.  As  we  drew  nearer  we 
noticed  that  the  land  was  not  as  it  at  first  appeared, 
an  endless  wall  of  ice,  but  rough,  irregular  and  discon- 
nected, though  it  was  buried  under  a  mantle  of 
glacial  ice,  extending  to  the  water's  edge.  Here 
and  there  were  large  bays,  and  one  directly  over 
our  bowsprit  was  so  wide  that  it  offered  us  a  tempt- 
ing path  southward.  Now  the  maps  were  carefully 
studied  that  we  might  be  able  to  fix  our  position  on 
paper;  but  in  this  effort  we  failed. 

Over  the  starboard  bow  rose  two  beautiful  head- 
lands, mountains  of  moderate  height,  perhaps  two 
thousand  feet ;  the  first  (Mount  Pierre)  having 
around  it  a  circular  cloak  of  ice  extending  from  a 
black  crown  of  rocks  at  the  summit  to  the  sea-line, 
where  it  terminated  in  a  perpendicular  wall  of  ice  of 
about  one  hundred  and  twenty  feet  in  height.  The 
second  (Mount  Alio)  had  a  similar  form  but  was 
much  more  heavily  laden  with  snow.  In  front  of 
these  remarkable  headlands  there  was  a  bay,  and 
beyond  a  long  series  of  mountains,  clothed   in  the 

130 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

same  sheet  of  perennial  ice.  Eastward  there  were  a 
number  of  small  islands,  mostly  free  of  ice,  and  be- 
yond, low  under  the  south-eastern  sky,  was  the  dim 
outline  of  an  extensive  white  country.  We  set  our 
course  somewhat  east  of  south  to  examine  the  inter- 
ruption between  the  high  mountainous  land  before 
us  and  the  more  even  country  eastward. 

That  the  reader  may  better  understand  the  posi- 
tions I  will  give  the  names,  which  have  since  been 
affixed  to  the  discoveries,  as  we  steam  along  through 
the  undiscovered  country. 

We  headed  for  a  small  island  (Auguste  Island), 
steaming  slowly ;  for  with  the  ordinary  lead  we  found 
no  bottom  to  the  sea,  and  being  in  absolutely  un- 
known water  we  might  at  any  moment  strike  a  reef, 
as  we  had  done  twice  before.  It  was  ten  o'clock  at 
night  before  we  were  near  enough  to  make  a  landing. 
Then  a  boat  was  lowered,  and  into  it  we  piled,  eagerly 
seizing  the  first  opportunity  of  our  mission  to  study 
the  antarctic  lands  and  life.  It  was  a  curious  night. 
Everything  about  us  had  an  other- world  appearance. 
The  scenery,  the  life,  the  clouds,  the  atmosphere,  the 
water — everything  wore  an  air  of  mystery.  There 
was  nothing  in  our  surroundings  which  resembled 
the  part  of  the  antipodes  with  which  I  was  familiar. 
Greenland  and  antarctic  landscapes  are  apparently 
as  widely  different  as  the  distance  between  them. 

Though  the  sun  was  sliding  eastward  just  under 
the  high  mountains  to  the  south-west  it  seemed  per- 
fectly dark.  Nevertheless,  on  the  water,  as  we  pad- 
dled over  it,  there  was  a  curious  luminous  gray  light, 
by  which  it  was  possible  to  read  coarse  print  even  at 

131 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

midnight.  This  Hght  rested  on  the  new  lands  to  the 
east  and  west,  and  brought  out  the  snowy  outHnes 
so  perfectly  that  it  was  possible  to  take  photographs 
throughout  the  night.  The  sky,  however,  continued 
black,  made  so  by  the  sooty  clouds  which  ceaselessly 
rose  out  of  the  Pacific  to  drop  their  white  cargoes  of 
snow  on  the  neighbouring  lands.  There  was  at  this 
time  no  wind.  The  water  was  smooth  and  glassy,  the 
land  far  off  and  restful ;  but  the  life  was  otherwise. 
Awe-inspiring  and  strangely  interesting  were  the  cu- 
rious noises  of  the  cormorants,  the  penetrating  voices 
of  the  gulls,  the  coarse  gka-a-ah,  gha-a-ah  of  the 
penguins,  the  sudden  and  unexpected  spouts  of 
whales,  the  splash  of  seals  and  penguins,  and  the 
babyish  cries  of  the  young  animals  on  the  rocks  be- 
fore us. 

There  was  nothing  remarkable  in  the  appearance 
of  this  land  upon  which  we  were  about  to  em- 
bark. It  was  a  heap  of  hard  rocks,  mostly  granite. 
The  northern  exposure  was  bare,  the  ravines  were 
still  levelled  with  winter  ice,  and  the  southern  point 
had  on  it  a  small  ice-cap.  We  afterwards  saw  a 
hundred  others  of  a  similar  nature,  and  all  will  pass 
under  the  same  description.  We  landed  in  a  small 
bight,  upon  a  ledge  of  rocks.  I  think  Arctowski, 
with  his  hammer  and  geological  bag,  was  the  first  to 
step  ashore,  and  he  was  followed  by  Racovitza,  with 
his  paraphernalia  to  capture  natural  history  speci- 
mens. Gerlache  and  I  next  stumbled  over  fragments 
of  ice,  and  stones  and  impertinent  penguins,  who 
disputed  our  landing.  We  wished  to  get  a  view  of 
the  new  land,  but  the  force  of  the  swell  was  such 

132 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

that  we  were  compelled  to  return  to  the  boat  and 
push  away  from  the  rocks  to  save  it  from  being 
smashed. 

We  rested  on  the  oars  while  Racovitza  and  Arc- 
towski  did  the  honours  of  the  expedition;  we  tried 
to  follow  them  with  our  glasses  as  we  rocked  about 
in  the  boat,  but  soon  lost  sight  of  their  movements 
in  the  darkness.  We  were  able  to  locate  Arctowski 
by  the  dull  echo  of  his  hammer,  and  we  were  able  to 
trace  Racovitza  by  the  chorus  of  penguins  which 
greeted  him  from  rock  to  rock.  The  alternate  inter- 
change of  the  music  of  the  hammer  and  the  war  song 
of  the  penguins  was  an  entertainment  which  to 
Gerlache  and  myself,  will  be  a  long  and  weird  remem- 
brance. At  about  midnight  we  returned  to  the  rocky 
ledge  to  pick  up  our  companions  with  their  loads  of 
rocks  and  bags  of  game.  The  inhabitants  did  not 
like  their  visitors.  The  penguins  assembled  about 
us,  picking  at  our  feet ;  the  gulls  hovered  threaten- 
ingly about  our  heads  ;  and  even  the  harmless  cormo- 
rants dashed  to  and  fro  over  us,  stretching  their 
long  necks  to  ask  our  mission.  Worst  of  all  the 
sea-leopards  clambered  over  the  rocks  near  us, 
snorting  and  defiantly  showing  their  teeth  and  roll- 
ing their  large,  glassy  eyes.  As  we  left  it  was  too 
dark  to  see  the  movement  of  an  animal  one  hundred 
yards  from  shore,  but  the  peculiar  whiteness  which 
rested  on  the  scene  made  it  possible  to  take  a 
photograph  of  the  island  with  good  details. 

During  the  few  hours  of  night  we  rested  under 
easy  steam,  and  in  the  morning  we  found  ourselves 
well  into  the  bight  (Hughes  Inlet)  which  we  had 

133 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

entered.  The  land  before  us  retreated  and  offered 
even  greater  hopes  of  a  passage  southward.  At 
five  o'clock  the  sun  had  already  risen  over  the  snowy- 
heights  of  the  east  and  was  under  the  banks  of  black 
clouds  which  sailed  out  of  the  west.  There  was  a 
solitude  and  restfulness  about  this  sunburst,  and 
the  new  world  of  ice  under  it  which  is  difficult  to 
describe.  Our  position  at  this  time  was  in  the  cen- 
tre of  a  wide  waste  of  water,  about  twelve  miles 
away  from  the  nearest  land.  We  were  too  far  from 
the  rocks  to  see  birds,  and  except  for  an  occasional 
spout  of  a  whale  there  was  nothing  to  mar  the  dead 
silence.  A  strange  pang  of  loneliness  came  over  us 
as  we  paced  the  deck.  There  were  indications  of 
channels  to  the  south  and  west,  but  from  the  dis- 
tance at  which  we  reviewed  the  lands  every  projec- 
tion seemed  a  continuous  mass  of  impenetrable 
crystal  solitude.  Could  there  be  a  place  more 
desperately  silent  or  more  hopelessly  deserted? 


134 


CHAPTER  X 

DISCOVERIES   IN   A   NEW   WORLD   OF  ICE 
(continued) 

Before  going  south  it  was  determined  to  examine 
a  large  bay  to  the  eastward  for  a  possible  opening 
into  the  Weddell  Sea  (Brialmont  Bay).  The  morn- 
ing was  foggy ;  but  by  noon  the  mist  raised  a  little 
and  we  found  ourselves  off  a  bold,  black  cliff  (Cape 
von  Sterneck),  with  an  altitude  of  about  fifteen 
hundred  feet,  on  a  projecting  point  of  land,  with  a 
few  islands  to  the  north  and  one  to  the  south  of  it. 
This  bluff  forms  the  eastern  headland  to  the  entrance 
of  what  we  later  discovered  was  a  strait  opening 
into  the  Pacific,  (Belgica  Strait).  Passing  within  a 
few  miles  of  the  shore  we  examined  carefully  the  gla- 
cial wall  which  everywhere  offered  a  check  to  our 
passage  eastward.  The  interior  of  the  land  was 
covered  with  a  cloud  which  did  not  lift  during  the 
day,  but  the  coastal  edge  was  distinctly  visible,  and 
offered  us  excellent  opportunities  for  surveying. 

During  the  night  of  the  24th  we  steamed  leisurely 
across  the  channel  and  In  the  morning  we  found 
ourselves  under  a  clear  sky  before  a  series  of  icy 

135 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

walls  from  60  to  1 50  feet  in  height.  From  the  slop- 
ing snows  over  these  cliffs  there  was  showered  upon 
us  a  light  which  was  perfectly  dazzling  to  the  eye. 
We  selected  here  two  points,  where  the  ice  had  been 
partly  melted,  offering  a  footing  and  a  place  for 
making  observations.  The  boat  which  took  us 
ashore  was  loaded  with  men  and  instruments :  Le- 
cointe,  with  his  nautical  instruments ;  Danco,  with 
his  magnetic  outfit;  Racovitza,  with  guns  and  knives 
and  what  not,  to  take  specimens  of  life;  Arctowski, 
with  his  big  hammer  and  dozens  of  bags  for  stones ; 
Amundsen  and  the  writer  with  snowshoes  and 
camera,  and  the  sailors  with  boat-hooks  and  guns  to 
keep  off  and  capture  seals.  If  we  had  started  out 
to  make  a  month's  siege  on  the  new  lands  and  life 
we  could  not  have  been  better  supplied.  The  cove 
in  which  we  landed  (Harry  Island)  was  a  slope  of 
rounded  ice-worn  granite  rocks,  upon  which  Lecointe 
and  Danco  fixed  their  tripods.  Racovitza  turned  up 
the  stones  along  the  shore  where  he  found  mys- 
terious crawling  things  which  he  hailed  with  as  much 
delight  as  if  he  had  found  nuggets  of  gold.  Amund- 
sen remained  in  the  boat  and  sought  to  secure  a  few 
Weddell  sea-leopards  asleep  on  a  pan  of  ice,  while 
Arctowski  and  I  mounted  the  inland  ice  to  study  its 
character. 

The  view  which  we  obtained  from  the  upper  slopes 
of  the  land-ice  was  superb  indeed.  To  the  east  was 
an  island  (Two  Hummock  Island)  with  two  bare 
hummocks  about  two  thousand  five  hundred  feet 
high,  and  from  these,  expanding  in  every  direction, 
was  a  bed  of  ice  and  snow  many  hundred  feet  deep. 

136 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

Beyond  this,  just  barely  visible  and  about  fifty  miles 
from  our  position,  was  the  feeble  snowy  outline  of 
the  great  country  (Dancoland)  which  offered  us  no 
hope  for  a  passage  eastward.  Scattered  about  in 
the  channel  were  numerous  icebergs  with  petrels  on 
their  crests,  as  tenants.  Near  one  of  these  rested 
the  Belgica  as  easy  and  as  stationary  as  if  at  anchor. 
We  were  on  an  island ;  except  at  the  sea  line,  how- 
ever, there  was  not  the  slightest  indication  of  land. 
Everything  was  buried  under  a  weight  of  snow  and 
ice,  about  five  hundred  feet  in  thickness.  There 
were  dome-like  elevations  and  some  irregularities, 
but  all  was  cold,  white  and  lifeless.  To  the  west  of 
this  island  there  was  a  canal  with  several  arms 
offering  excellent  harbour  facilities,  and  beyond, 
apparently  within  a  stone's  throw,  though  really  ^\^ 
miles  off,  was  Liege  Island  with  Mount  Brugmann, 
making  the  most  glorious  snowy  landscape  I  eversaw. 
Later  in  the  day  we  followed  this  land  northward 
and  then  proceeded  to  our  first  landing-place.  It 
was  a  clear,  silvery  day,  with  only  an  occasional 
cloud  rising  out  of  the  black  waters  of  the  north. 
The  temperature  was  close  to  the  freezing  point, 
but  the  air  was  calm  and  dry.  We  were  dressed  in 
ordinary  clothing,  without  overcoats,  and  when 
engaged  in  rowing,  or  climbing,  our  jackets  were 
removed.  Even  lightly  dressed,  we  perspired  while 
trying  to  scale  the  cliffs  of  ice.  The  water  was  a  joy 
to  behold.  It  was  like  a  mill-pond.  Easy  ripples 
deflected  the  sunbeams  on  the  mirrored  surface,  and 
everywhere,  on  the  surface  and  under  it,  could  be 
seen  the  soft  whiteness  of  the  land-ice  and  the  sav- 

137 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

age  blackness  of  the  noonataks.  We  kept  the  coast 
within  five  miles  on  our  port  side ;  at  this  distance 
it  presented  a  scene  such  as  one  sees  nowhere  else 
in  the  world.  There  were  in  the  foreground  a  few 
rocks  too  steep  for  snow  to  rest  upon,  black  except 
on  the  north-eastern  face,  where  a  little  moss  added 
a  flush  of  red  and  green ;  in  the  background  every- 
thing was  loaded  down  by  continental  ice.  The 
inland  ice,  unlike  that  of  Greenland,  was  irregular, 
and  took  the  general  outline  of  the  mountain  ridge 
under  it.  There  was  in  view,  for  a  distance  of 
twenty  miles,  extending  north-east  and  south-west, 
an  unbroken  series  of  mountains  and  ice-walls. 

We  spent  the  afternoon  surveying  this  coast,  and 
at  5  o'clock  we  were  off  the  rounded  peak  (Mount 
Alio)  which  we  first  saw  on  the  23d.  We  then 
steamed  again  for  the  little  island  (Auguste)  upon 
which  we  made  our  first  debarkment.  Here  we  rested 
under  steam  for  the  few  hours  of  twilight,  during  the 
midnight  hours,  and  on  the  26th  a  number  of  sights 
were  made  for  triangulation.  The  morning  of  the  27th 
was  spent  in  a  similar  way.  In  the  afternoon  we 
steamed  south  to  a  number  of  small  rocks  (Gaston  Is- 
lands), which  we  thought  might  be  the  islands  laid 
down  by  Larsen  on  the  east  coast.  Larsen  claimed  to 
have  looked  northward  from  his  islands  without 
seeing  land,  but  w^e  found  it  otherwise.  The  day  was 
hazy,  and,  though  the  ice-wall  of  the  coast  was  con- 
stantly visible,  the  interior  of  the  country  to  both  sides 
of  us  was  obscured  under  clouds.  A  debarkment  was 
made  on  one  of  the  supposed  Larsen  Islands.  They 
were  three  in  number,  of  irregular  shape  and  in  size  ; 

138 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

the  largest  was  not  more  than  a  mile  in  its  longest 
diameter.  The  two  largest  islands  had,  in  the  cen- 
tre, cone-like  peaks  of  bare  rocks,  from  which  an  ice- 
mantle  spread  out  to  the  shore  line,  as  it  does  on  all 
the  antarctic  islands.  The  smallest  one  upon  which 
we  landed  was  not  more  than  a  half  mile  wide  and 
three  quarters  of  a  mile  long.  There  was  about  it 
nothing  to  indicate  land  except  a  shelf  of  volcanic 
rocks  upon  which  we  placed  the  geologist  with  his 
hammer,  while  the  boat  withdrew  to  keep  from 
being  dashed  to  pieces  on  the  rocks.  The  tide  was 
low,  and  if  Arctowski  had  been  left  there,  or  if  our 
boat  had  been  lost,  we  should  have  been  forced  to 
climb  a  vertical  cliff  of  ice  one  hundred  feet  high,  or 
take  to  the  rising  sea  of  ice-water,  as  did  the  seals 
and  penguins.  Neither  prospect  seemed  agreeable, 
and  the  danger  of  falling  ice  from  the  cliffs  was  such 
that  we  soon  returned  to  the  ship.  The  haze  of  the 
morning  thickened  to  a  dense  fog,  which  entirely 
blocked  out  our  view  of  the  main  shore-lines  on  both 
sides.  We  steamed  westerly  in  a  line  over  which 
the  channel  seemed  to  open  into  a  large  body  of 
water. 

The  prevailing  query  on  board  was,  "Is  this  the 
Pacific  or  the  Atlantic  ?  " 

The  weather  continuing  foggy,  we  took  advantage 
of  the  time  to  augment  our  water  supply.  Up  to  this 
time  we  had  made  eight  debarkments,  but  found 
no  place  where  fresh  water  could  be  taken.  There 
were  about  us  a  large  number  of  icebergs.  One  of 
these  offered  an  even  side  as  a  dock,  and  to  this  we 
attempted  to  anchor  the  Belgica  that  we  might  se- 

139 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

cure  ice  from  it,  which  could  be  melted  and  put  into 
our  tanks.  The  ship  was  taken  to  the  side,  while 
men  with  ice  anchors  and  axes  mounted  to  the  berg. 
The  men  succeeded  in  placing  the  anchors,  and  also 
chopped  a  supply  of  ice ;  but  the  motion  of  the  berg 
was  such  that  it  nearly  stove  in  the  ribs  of  the  ves- 
sel in  the  effort  to  load.  We  were  compelled  to  cast 
off  and  leave  the  unruly  berg.  A  few  days  later, 
however,  we  found  a  small  glacial  stream  from  which 
we  secured  a  good  supply  of  water,  which  served  us 
for  several  months. 

Being  still  unwilling  to  advance  into  the  unknown 
region  before  us  while  enshrouded  in  mist,  we  drew 
near  a  prominent  mountain  peak  (Cape  Anna), 
whose  front  was  perpendicular  and  free  of  snow  to  the 
seashore.  This  peak  was,  as  we  learned  on  the  fol- 
lowing day,  one  of  a  number  extending  far  into  the 
south-west.  We  made  a  debarkment  at  its  base. 
Here  was  life  in  profusion,  as  indeed  it  was  on  every 
rock  where  life  could  gain  a  footing.  The  noise  from 
the  birds  which  re-echoed  from  cliff  to  cliff  was  so 
deafening  that  our  attempts  at  conversation  were  in- 
audible. The  lower  rocks  were  lined  with  snoring 
and  grunting  sea-leopards.  Columns  of  vapour  rose 
above  the  water  followed  by  a  hiss  like  that  of  a  steam- 
engine,  and  a  second  later  the  blue  back  of  a  whale, 
with  its  long  fin  and  ponderous  tail,  lashed  the  water 
into  a  foamy  whirlpool.  The  great  wall  of  land-ice, 
which  rose  to  each  side  of  the  black  cliff,  gave  us  a 
shelf  as  a  landing-place,  and  from  this  wall  came 
frequent  sounds  like  the  explosion  of  a  cannon,  each 
followed  by  a  great  splash  and  a  commotion  in  the 

140 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

water.  With  such  reports,  parts  of  the  wall  would 
constantly  break  away  and  explode  into  a  million 
pieces,  strewing  the  water  with  small  fragments  of 
ice,  but  not  with  icebergs.  Above  us  rose  a  cliff  to 
an  altitude  of  about  two  thousand  feet;  out  from 
this  were  projecting  mantel-like  rocks,  which  served 
as  resting  -  places  for  cormorants  and  sea  -  gulls. 
Here  the  young  ones,  dressed  in  gray  down,  coaxed 
their  mothers  for  food.  We  expected  to  see  the  lit- 
tle things  drop  from  the  narrow  resting-places  to  be 
destroyed  on  our  heads  or  on  the  rocks  below,  but 
such  an  accident  rarely  happened.  Our  greatest 
surprise  here  was  the  discovery  of  large  quantities 
of  moss  and  lichens,  which  gave  the  spot  an  appear- 
ance of  life  that  to  us,  after  having  seen  nothing  but  ice 
and  black  rocks  for  so  many  days,  made  it  a  true  oasis. 
From  this  point  we  were  able  to  see  in  a  splendid 
manner  almost  the  entire  length  of  the  channel  ex- 
plored to  this  time ;  but  we  had  not  yet  been  able 
to  make  a  running  survey  of  the  regions  in  our  im- 
mediate vicinity.  To  get  a  better  view  it  was 
decided  to  ascend  to  the  interior  of  the  land  and 
scale  one  of  the  noonataks.  In  a  bay  (Buls  Bay)  to 
the  northward  the  land  offered  an  easy  slope  and  to 
it  we  steamed  on  the  following  day.  In  our  prepara- 
tions for  this  ascent  we  made  arrangements  to  camp 
on  the  inland  ice  for  a  week.  A  tent  was  taken, 
sleeping  bags,  and  fur  clothing  were  gotten  out,  and 
bags  of  provisions  were  packed,  all  of  which  was 
lashed  on  two  small  sledges.  Volunteers  were  called 
for  and  those  who  responded  were  Arctowski,  Danco, 
Amundsen,  and  the  writer.     Led  by  Gerlache  we 

141 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

landed  late  on  the  afternoon  of  the  31st  on  a  little 
point  of  land  (Cape  d'Ursel)  with  a  northern  or 
sunny  face.  We  climbed  the  steep  slopes  for  five 
hundred  feet,  and  then  camped  for  the  night.  The 
first  night  was  one  of  stormy  discomfort.  A  wind 
came  out  of  the  bed  of  a  glacier  above  us,  against 
which  we  could  hardly  stand.  It  took  two  men 
to  hold  up  the  tent,  and  the  combined  efforts  of 
all  hands  to  keep  from  having  our  effects  scat- 
tered over  the  cliffs  but  a  few  yards  away.  On 
the  1st  of  February  we  made  another  effort  and 
mounted  a  few  miles  into  the  interior,  but  fog  and 
wind  and  crevasses  made  frequent  halts  necessary. 
The  sledges  were  heavily  loaded  and  were  difficult 
to  drag,  and  altogether  the  work  of  travelling  and. 
the  discomfort  of  camping  were  such  that  the  life 
was  generally  miserable.  We  succeeded,  however, 
in  mounting  to  the  peak  of  a  noonatak,  with  an  alti- 
tude of  about  fifteen  hundred  feet,  and  from  there 
Gerlache  and  Danco  were  able  to  get  the  obser- 
vations necessary  for  the  rough  survey  of  our  sur- 
roundings. The  view  before  us  was  even  more 
beautiful,  if  possible,  than  anything  we  had  seen 
since  our  first  entrance  into  this  new  white  world. 
To  the  south-west  there  was  an  opening  through  a 
new  land  and  into  a  new  sea,  which  remained  for  us 
to  explore  later.  To  the  north-east,  descending  in- 
to the  white  airy  distance,  were  the  two  high  banks 
of  the  new  highway.  Before  us  was  a  small  island, 
shaped  like  a  biscuit,  and  like  everything  antarctic, 
it  was  covered  with  ice  to  the  water's  edge.  Around 
this  berg-like  island   were   a  number   of  icebergs, 

142 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

stranded  on  submerged  rocks,  and  these,  by  occa- 
sional mysterious  explosions,  sent  up  the  noise  and 
the  commotion  of  a  thousand  cannons.  The  oppo- 
site shore  here  retreated,  making  two  large  bays. 
In  these  bays  were  a  number  of  islands,  beyond 
which  we  could  see  clearly  a  narrow  canal.  The 
land  which  spread  out  under  the  southern  and  eas- 
tern skies  offered  no  promise  of  a  passage  eastward; 
it  had  a  series  of  black  cliffs  parallel  to  the  coast 
about  five  miles  beyond  the  edge  of  the  sea,  and 
beyond  these  the  white  outline  of  the  land  rose  into 
the  clouds. 

After  a  stay  of  seven  days,  which  was  our  first 
camping  experience  in  the  antarctic,  and  the  first 
in  the  history  of  south  polar  exploration,  we  gladly 
betook  ourselves  to  the  good  old  bark,  which 
had  returned  from  a  cruise  southward.  During  our 
absence  the  Belgica,  under  Lecointe's  direction, 
had  been  on  an  exploring  cruise  to  the  south.  The 
effort  was  brilliantly  successful,  for  Lecointe  reported 
the  discovery  of  several  islands,  upon  one  of  which 
Racovitza  had  discovered  the  metropolis  of  Belgica 
Strait,  a  city  of  forty  thousand  penguins,  and  be- 
yond these  islands  there  was  what  promised  to  be 
an  unobstructed  highway  into  the  Pacific.  To  ex- 
amine this  and  the  extension  of  the  waters  before  us 
was  our  next  mission ;  but  Lecointe  was  not  yet 
satisfied  that  the  wide  bay  opposite  our  encampment 
(Wilhelmina  Bay),  did  not  extend  through  Danco- 
land  to  the  Atlantic.  During  the  night  of  February 
6th  we  steamed  across  the  Strait,  and  early  on  the 
following  morning  we  were  off  Cape  Murray.    Keep- 

143 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

ing  close  to  the  shores  we  followed  the  great  wall  of 
ice  which  lined  the  shore-line  from  Cape  Murray  to 
Cape  Reclus.  At  noon  we  rounded  Cape  Reclus,  a 
long  tongue  of  land-ice  with  a  saddle-shaped  moun- 
tain in  the  center,  and  entered  a  canal-like  body  of 
water,  with  the  high  ice-walls  of  Dancoland  on 
the  east  and  the  shore  lines  of  Nansen  and  Brooklyn 
Islands  on  the  west.  This  was  certainly  a  fairy-like 
scene ;  but  a  heavy  fog  settled  down  over  us,  block- 
ing out,  for  a  time,  the  savage  peaks  which  pierced 
the  heavy  spread  of  snow  and  reared  their  towering 
heights  far  into  the  dull  skies.  In  this  fog  the  water 
had  the  colour  and  the  glimmer  of  polished  silver, 
while  the  walls  of  ice  rising  from  the  shore-lines  stood 
out  in  great  lines  of  ultramarine  blue.  We  con- 
tinued our  search  along  the  mainland,  and  in  the 
evening  we  found  ourselves  opposite  Sophie  Rocks, 
which  we  had  seen  from  the  other  side.  The  body 
of  water  through  which  we  sailed  on  this  day  has 
been  given  the  name  ''  Chenal  de  la  Plata,"  in 
honour  of  the  capital  of  the  Argentine  Republic. 

A  scene  which  I  photographed  at  midnight  on 
February  7th  pictures  this  land  in  a  faithful  manner. 
The  sun  was  just  under  the  land-ice,  painting  the  sky 
in  orange  and  the  land  in  gold,  while  gliding  north- 
ward behind  a  great  crested  peak  4,000  feet  in  height. 
To  each  side  of  this  black  peak  were  rugged  edges 
of  stratified  rocks  which  had  once  been  under  the  sea, 
but  were  now  raised  to  an  elevation  of  two  thousand 
feet,  and  buried  under  a  sheet  of  ice  of  more  than 
a  thousand  feet  in  thickness. 

On  the  morning  of  February  8th  we  had  coni- 

144 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

pleted  a  rough  survey  of  the  mainland  eastward,  and 
a  running  survey  of  the  eastern  banks  of  the  Liege 
and  Brabant  Islands.  We  did  not  follow  the  chan- 
nels leading  northward  and  westward,  nor  did  we 
prolong  our  examination  of  the  lands  in  that  direc- 
tion beyond  the  banks  of  Belgica  Strait.  We  steamed 
around  Cape  Anna,  and  then  headed  for  a  remark- 
able cliff,  at  the  base  of  which  we  made  our  four- 
teenth debarkment.  The  day  was  a  delight.  The 
sun  showered  its  full  wealth  of  rays  on  the  sloping 
snows  with  such  force  that  the  reflected  beams  made 
the  air  and  the  water  perfectly  dazzling.  It  was  a 
photographic  day.  As  the  ship  steamed  rapidly 
along,  spreading  out  one  panorama  after  another  of 
a  new  world,  the  noise  of  the  camera  was  as  regular 
and  successive  as  the  tap  of  a  stock  ticker.  Not  less 
than  three  hundred  photographs  were  taken  on  this 
day.  Surely,  in  the  hundred  miles  of  land  which  we 
discovered  on  this  memorable  day  there  were  no 
landmarks  which  were  not  on  our  plates.  Every- 
body was  on  deck  with  pencil  and  paper,  some  mak- 
ing nautical  and  geographical  notes,  others  geologi- 
cal and  topographical  notes,  and  all  recording  the 
strange  other- world  scenic  effects.  Even  the  sailors, 
the  cabin-boy,  and  the  cooks  were  out  with  paper 
and  note-books,  taking  long  looks  and  then  bending 
over  their  paper. 

The  landscape  was  not  materially  different  from 
what  it  had  been  along  the  scores  of  miles  which  we 
had  discovered  during  the  days  previous,  but  the 
clearness  of  the  atmosphere  made  it  possible  to  see 
to  the  limit  of  every  point  of  the  horizon.     There 

145 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

were  on  this  day  many  notable  sights,  but  I  shall 
mention  only  two.  Early  in  the  afternoon  we  saw 
on  the  northern  side  of  the  channel  a  great  red  cliff 
of  granite.  Its  bare  face  was  only  about  one  thousand 
feet  high,  but,  with  its  snow-covered  base  and  its  icy 
crest,  it  stood  up  boldly  to  an  altitude  of  three  thou- 
sand feet  against  the  clouds,  which  now  came  from 
the  south-west.  A  little  farther  south  the  channel 
was  divided  into  two  arms  by  an  island,  with  a  bold 
round  rock  as  a  headland  (Cape  Eivind  Astrup). 
We  took  the  western  arm.  This  passage  was  not 
more  than  from  two  to  five  miles  in  width,  and  its 
length  was  about  forty  miles.  We  entered  it  at 
four  o'clock,  and  steamed  for  six  hours  in  a  silvery 
fjord,  whose  walls  of  ice  and  rock  rose  over  us  to 
a  height  of  from  three  to  four  thousand  feet.  At 
ten  o'clock  we  saw  the  black  sky  of  the  Pacific  and 
the  terminating  banks  of  the  newly  discovered  Strait. 

Here,  within  sight  of  the  Pacific,  was  a  large  bay 
(Borgen  Bay)  surrounded  by  mountains  (Osterrieth 
Mountains)  fully  three  thousand  feet  high  and  cov- 
ered with  snow  to  their  summits.  In  this  bay  we 
rested  for  the  night. 

The  morning  of  the  9th  was  as  beautiful  as  the 
day  previous,  and  under  the  warm  rays  of  the  sun 
we  made  two  debarkments  to  fix  the  position  of  the 
landmarks  of  the  southern  opening  of  the  new  Strait, 
and  to  make  the  usual  scientific  collections  and  obser- 
vations. The  time  from  the  9th  to  the  12  th  was 
spent  in  exploring  this  region.  The  country  was 
somewhat  higher  than  any  we  had  seen  farther 
northward.     Glacial  discharge  had  a  greater  tend- 

146 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

ency  to  be  sent  out  by  tongues  into  the  sea.  The 
northern  cape  (Cape  Lancaster)  has  a  long  tongue 
of  ice  rising  with  an  easy  slope  to  a  single  mountain 
of  moderate  height.  This  agrees  well  in  position  with 
the  Mount  William  of  Biscoe.  The  southern  cape 
(Cape  Reynard)  is  made  prominent  by  a  number  of 
needle-like  peaks,  which  are  too  steep  to  offer  a 
resting-place  for  snow.  Between  these  two  prom- 
inent capes  is  a  large  island  (Wiencke  Island),  which 
has  running  through  its  center  a  ridge  of  high  peaks 
(Sierra  Du  Fief),  nearly  free  of  snow.  The  north- 
ern point  of  Wiencke  Island  is  a  black  bluff  crowned 
with  an  even  sheet  of  ice  which  breaks  off  into  the 
water  to  both  sides  of  the  cape.  This  point  has 
been  named  in  honor  of  the  faithful  companion  of 
Lieutenant  Peary,  the  friend  of  Mr.  Amundsen  and 
myself,  Eivind  Astrup  (now  deceased).  The  south- 
ern cape  (Cape  Errera)  is  remarkable,  because  upon 
it  is  a  unique  pyramidal  peak.  Just  beyond  the 
southern  termination  of  Wiencke  Island  there  are  a 
number  of  small  ice-capped  islands  (Wauwermans 
Islands). 

In  the  past  three  weeks  we  have  been  remarkably 
successful  in  discovering  new  regions.  Without 
encountering  any  serious  difficulty  we  have  passed 
through  a  new  highway  from  Bransfield  Strait,  two 
hundred  miles  south-westerly,  through  an  unknowii 
land  to  the  Pacific,  which  has  been  given  the  name 
"Detroit  de  la  Belgica."  This  highway  is  perfectly 
free,  in  summer,  for  ordinary  navigation.  The  scores 
of  new  islands  which  dot  the  virgin  waters  are  in- 
habited by  countless  millions  of  penguins  and  cor- 

147 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

morants,  while  great  numbers  of  seals  are  in  evidence 
on  every  accessible  rock  or  ledge  of  ice.  In  the 
waters  are  large  numbers  of  finback  whales  which, 
with  the  seals,  will  in  the  near  future  offer  a  new 
industry.  To  the  west  of  Belgica  Strait  there  are 
four  large  mountainous  islands  (Liege,  Brabant, 
Grand,  and  Anvers  Islands).  These  islands  are 
probably  guarded  seaward  by  a  great  number  of 
small  islands.  Over  this  group  we  have  written  the 
American  name.  Palmer  Archipelago,  in  justice  to 
the  young  Yankee  sealer,  Nathaniel  Palmer,  who 
first  of  all  men  saw  the  outer  line  of  this  still  un- 
known coast.  The  various  islands,  mountains,  capes, 
bays,  and  headlands  have  been  named  in  honour  of 
Belgian  friends  of  the  expedition.  We  have  not, 
however,  forgotten  prominent  outside  workers,  as  is 
clearly  shown  by  Neumayer  Channel  and  Nansen 
Island.  The  honor  of  bestowing  some  names  fell  to 
the  lot  of  each  officer.  Two  islands,  which  it  has 
been  my  privilege  to  name,  are  called  Brooklyn  and 
Van  Wyck  Islands ;  Brooklyn,  in  honour  of  the  city 
of  my  home,  and  Van  Wyck,  in  honour  of  the  first 
Mayor  of  Greater  New  York. 

To  the  east  of  Belgica  Strait  the  shore-line  is  un- 
broken. It  has  many  deep  indentations,  but  there 
is  no  passage  into  the  Atlantic.  A  continuous  wall 
of  ice,  from  fifty  to  one  hundred  feet  high,  fronts  the 
coast  everywhere.  This  land  is  from  two  thousand 
to  four  thousand  feet  high,  with  mountains  farther 
inland  perhaps  six  thousand  feet  in  altitude.  Every 
valley  and  every  surface  which  is  not  perpendicular 
is  buried  by  a  sheet  of  never-melting  ice.     We  were 

148 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

not  able  to  follow  the  coast  of  this  country  far  enough 
south  to  determine  the  interesting  question  whether 
it  is  continuous  with  Grahamland  or  not.  This  land 
has  received  the  name  Terre  de  Danco,  in  memory 
of  our  late  faithful  companion,  Lieutenant  Emile 
Danco. 


149 


CHAPTER  XI 

FROM   DANCOLAND  TO  ALEXANDER  ISLANDS 

At  about  eight  o'clock  in  the  evening  of  the 
twelfth  we  select  what  seems  to  be  a  comfortable 
resting-place  for  the  night.  Owing  to  the  great 
depth  of  water  we  cannot  anchor;  hence,  in  ac- 
cordance with  our  previous  habits,  a  little  steam 
is  kept  up  for  an  emergency  movement,  and  the 
Belgica  is  allowed  to  drift  with  the  winds  and 
the  currents  during  the  hours  of  rest.  No  one 
ever  knew  except  the  officers  on  the  watch  how 
many  narrow  escapes  we  had  in  our  silent  hours 
of  slumber.  Quietly  but  quickly  the  bark  moves 
about,  now  in  danger  of  being  thrown  against  an 
iceberg;  now  being  propelled  by  some  mysteri- 
ous force  in  a  direct  line  for  a  rocky  island,  or  the 
huge  blue  ice-wall  of  the  mainland.  Danger  and  de- 
struction are  always  within  sight.  They  are  over 
the  gunwale  on  every  side.  And  then  there  is  al- 
ways the  hazard  of  submerged  reefs  upon  which  we 
might  easily  and  unexpectedly  ride  to  a  rapid  end. 
Hair's-breadth  escapes  have  been  on  hand  daily, 
until  now  we  have  become  hardened  to  the  real 
dangers  which  are  constantly  before  us.     But  up  to 

150 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

the  present  nothing  has  happened,  and  this  freedom 
from  casuahies  is  due  to  the  persistent  watchfulness, 
the  painstaking  care,  and  the  praiseworthy  faithful- 
ness of  the  officers  and  men  on  watch. 

The  night  is  of  special  interest  to  me.  There  is 
something  about  the  air,  the  water,  the  ice,  and  the 
land,  which  fixes  my  attention  and  makes  sleep  im- 
possible. There  is  a  glitter  in  the  sea,  a  sparkle  on 
the  ice,  and  a  stillness  in  the  atmosphere,  which  fas- 
cinates the  soul  but  overpowers  the  mind.  There  is 
a  solitude  and  restfulness  about  the  whole  scene 
which  can  only  be  felt ;  it  cannot  be  described. 
Here,  to  the  east,  the  face  of  the  mysterious  land  is 
clothed  by  the  successive  sheets  of  snows  of  the 
sleeping  years  of  countless  silent  centuries.  About 
us  are  scores  of  icebergs,  huge  table-topped,  pyra- 
midal, and  castle-like  masses,  fragments  of  this  same 
unknown  blanket  of  accumulated  snows  which  clothes 
every  aspect  of  antarctic  land. 

Out  of  the  unfathomed  blackness  of  the  ocean  to 
the  west  rise  a  series  of  heavy  mouse-coloured 
clouds,  with  their  cargoes  of  vapour,  which  sail  over 
us  in  a  regular  train  to  deposit  their  snows  on 
the  unsealed  heights  of  the  overland  sea  of  ice  east- 
ward ;  under  the  stream  of  vapour  floating  landward 
there  is  an  occasional  puff  of  icy  wind  rolling  down 
the  stupendous  white  heights  of  Grahamland,  which 
suddenly  chills  the  air  about  us  and  renders  it  in- 
capable of  suspending  its  charge  of  humidity.  As  a 
result,  there  is  either  an  occasional  shower  of  snow 
or  a  bank  of  fog  which,  for  a  time,  veils  the  electric 
splendour  of  our  chilly  fairyland. 

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THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

Although  the  sky  is  cloudy  and  dull,  and  the  sun 
is  below  the  horizon,  there  is  a  mystic  light  thrown 
against  the  masts  and  every  projecting  object,  which 
is,  indeed,  strangely  puzzling.  The  sun  is  sliding 
eastward  under  the  southern  sky,  and  over  it,  close 
to  the  horizon,  hangs  a  narrow  band  of  lemon 
which  remains  from  sunset  to  sunrise.  This  zone  of 
lemon  is  the  only  suggestion  of  colour  in  the 
heavens,  and,  curiously  enough,  the  light  does  not 
seem  to  come  from  the  regions  over  the  sun  but 
from  the  east.  There  is  a  haze  over  the  land  which 
is  luminous  throughout  the  short  night.  The  ice- 
blink, here,  from  the  snowy  mountains  far  beyond 
the  horizon,  is  reflected  from  slope  to  slope  and  then 
into  the  land  mist,  giving  it  a  curious  glow  which  at 
first  seems  inexplicable.  This  vapour  changes  in 
colour  from  sapphire  during  the  evening,  to  tur- 
quoise at  midnight,  and  again  to  violet  at  dawn. 
These  hues,  with  their  indescribable  gradations,  are 
spread  over  the  whites  and  blacks  of  the  waters,  and 
the  snow  and  the  rocks  of  the  land.  It  all  seems 
like  an  artist's  dream. 

This  morning,  the  thirteenth,  opened  with  a  bril- 
liant rosy  sunburst  over  the  icy  alabaster  walls  of 
Grahamland :  but  this  charm  soon  gave  way  to  a 
black  mist  which  quickly  suppressed  the  glory  in 
which  we  had  rested  during  the  few  hours  of  mid- 
night twilight.  We  are  steaming  slowly  westward, 
but  the  obscurity  and  the  threatening  character  of 
the  weather  prevents  material  progress.  There  is  a 
light  breeze  from  the  north-east,  and  a  heavy  swell 
from   the   north-west.      The    temperature   remains 

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ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

steadily  at. 08°  €.(33.44°  F.).  We  encounter  small  ice 
loosely  strewn  in  the  waters  in  considerable  quanti- 
ties as  we  advance,  but  owing  to  its  diminutive  size 
it  does  not  offer  any  difficulties  to  our  progress. 
This  ice  differs  greatly  from  any  which  I  have  seen 
floating  upon  the  sea  either  before  or  since.  There 
is  no  ice  of  the  same  character  in  the  arctic.  It  is 
a  form  seen  only  along  the  outer  edges  of  the  ant- 
arctic lands.  There  are  three  varieties  of  ice  which 
are  held  here  close  to  the  land  by  the  huge  swell  of 
the  South  Pacific.  The  kind  in  greatest  abundance, 
giving  the  entire  collection  an  appearance  different 
from  all  other  packs  of  ice,  is  mostly  from  two  to  five 
feet  in  diameter,  with  irregular  glassy  angles.  It 
consists  of  fragments  of  fresh-water  ice  from  the 
glacial  wall  which  everywhere  fronts  the  antarctic 
lands.  Some,  too,  are  the  product  of  iceberg  dis- 
ruption. Mixed  with  these  hard,  blue  crystalline 
masses,  are  some  spongy  pieces  of  salt-water  ice, 
which  are  the  product  of  pan-ice  disruption.  Every- 
where the  white  spires  and  table-tops  of  the  colos- 
sal icebergs  are  seen  to  rise  over  the  restless  icy 
water.  At  about  three  o'clock  the  sun  burst  through 
the  dark  curtain  of  mist  which  hung  over  us,  and  the 
dull,  ice-strewn  sea,  which  had  been  dreary  and 
cheerless  and  full  of  hidden  dangers,  became  a  most 
charming  array  of  glittering  brightness. 

This  is  our  first  view  of  any  considerable  quantity 
of  the  sea-ice  of  the  antarctic,  and  as  it  rises  and 
falls  on  the  breast  of  the  new  polar  ocean  it  offers  a 
dazzling  glow,  and  a  life  which  fill  us  with  a 
healthful    enthusiasm.     Steam    is    now   quickly    in- 

153 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

creased,  the  sails  are  set,  and  the  officers  take  their 
positions  to  push  the  Belgica  southward,  farther  into 
the  unknown.  The  scientific  men  are  scattered 
about,  some  in  the  masts,  some  on  the  bridge,  and 
others  on  the  poop ;  all  looking  anxiously  for 
surprises  in  the  new  life  and  scenes  about  us.  Even 
the  sailors  cannot  resist  the  temptation  to  stand  still 
and  drink,  with  awe-inspiring  amazement,  the  strange 
wine  of  action  which  hangs  over  the  mysterious 
whiteness  of  the  new  world  of  ice. 

Although  we  feel  that  we  are  on  the  threshold  of 
more  great  discoveries,  and  although,  for  some  un- 
explained reason,  we  are  all  in  a  fever-heat  of  excite- 
ment, quite  like  a  prize-fighter  on  the  eve  of  a  great 
battle,  calmly  and  coolly  considered  there  is  nothing 
very  wonderful  in  our  immediate  surroundings.  The 
weather  is  quiet  but  unsettled.  A  heavy  sea  rolls  in 
under  the  pack-ice  through  which  we  plough.  To 
the  west  there  is  a  black  sky  and  under  it,  just  on 
the  horizon,  is  the  dark  line  of  an  open  sea  with  the 
marbled  peaks  of  bergs  silhouetted  against  the  black 
sheen  of  the  heavens.  Far  to  the  eastward,  about 
seventy  miles  off,  is  the  rough  outline  of  the  great 
white  land  which  we  have  followed  for  the  past  three 
weeks.  From  the  crow's-nest  at  the  masthead  we 
can  see  fifty  miles  of  this  strange  country.  It  begins 
in  the  north-east  and  fades  away  in  the  airy  distance 
of  the  south-west.  Over  the  port-bow  there  is  a  fjord- 
like  break  through  the  land  which  seems  to  extend 
eastward  as  far  as  our  eyes  can  reach.  This  may  be 
another  canal  like  Belgica  Strait.  If  so,  its  position 
corresponds  fairly  well  with  Bismarck  Strait,  which 

154 


V 
V 

a, 
a 
U 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

was  vaguely  seen  by  the  German  sealer,  Dallmaa 
The  opening,  however,  of  this  prospective  strait  is 
choked  with  heavy  ice  and,  though  we  are  eager  to 
push  landward  and  examine  the  coast  carefully,  the 
drift-ice  forces  us  farther  and  farther  away  from  the 
shore-line.  In  our  over-anxious  efforts  to  keep  the 
coast  in  sight  we  have  pushed  into  an  area  of  ice 
which,  for  a  time,  shatters  our  new  hopes. 

This  area  is  covered  by  ice  such  as  we  have  passed 
through  all  day.  As  the  sea  rolls  under,  it  seems  a 
quivering  mass  of  small  fragments.  There  is  nothing 
about  it  to  suggest  its  ensnaring  powers.  We  steam 
into  a  tongue  which  spreads  out  seaward.  Over  this 
there  is  a  smoky  sky  indicating  that  behind  this  ice, 
and  immediately  before  us,  there  is  an  open  sea. 
Soon  after  we  enter  the  ice,  an  on-shore  wind  and 
swell  force  the  fragments  together  and  bring  a  num- 
ber of  icebergs  against  the  pack  edge.  We  try  with 
steam  and  sails  to  gain  our  release  from  the  sudden 
embrace,  but  our  efforts  will  be  of  no  avail  until  the 
wind  changes  and  the  icy  grip  loosens.  Our  sur- 
roundings are  wildly  picturesque.  To  the  east  of 
us  are  the  high  peaks  and  limitless  glaciers  of 
Grahamland.  The  country  is  visible  for  only  short 
periods  and  in  patches,  for  a  high  fog  hangs  constantly 
over  the  land,  leaving  only  an  opening  here  and 
there.  To  the  west  the  sky  is  fairly  clear.  A  dark 
smoky  zone  near  the  horizon  indicates  the  limits  of 
the  ice  and  the  open  sea  beyond.  Hundreds  of  ice- 
bergs are  on  the  horizon.  These  are  of  a  size  and 
type  quite  similar  to  those  of  the  arctic  sea.  The 
entire  mass — icebergs,   sea-ice,  and  the  ship — rises 

155 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

and  falls  with  the  gigantic  heave  of  this  South  Pacific, 
and  for  a  time  it  seems  as  though  we  are  to  be 
carried  with  the  moving  drift  against  one  of  a  num- 
ber of  small  islands.  But  a  change  in  the  direction 
of  the  wind  promises  to  so  separate  the  ice  that  we 
shall  soon  be  able  to  force  our  way  out  into  the 
open  sea  westward. 

February  1 4.  —  We  are  again  showered  by  a 
cold  drizzling  fog.  We  have  reached  clear  water 
and  are  pushing  slowly  southward.  During  the 
day  the  fog  rose  occasionally,  giving  us  a  peep 
of  the  black  peaks  and  the  snowy,  glacial  plains  and 
slopes  of  Grahamland ;  but  everywhere  the  drift-ice 
is  packed  against  the  land  in  such  a  manner  as  to 
offer  no  hope  for  a  safe  approach.  Late  in  the 
day  we  came  to  a  point  where  the  drift-ice  sud- 
denly terminated,  and  left  the  land  accessible. 
The  officers  and  men  worked  hard  all  through 
last  night,  in  their  efforts  to  extricate  the  bark,  and 
everybody  is  now  thoroughly  exhausted.  We 
sought  the  land  to  find  some  sort  of  a  haven  where 
the  vessel  might  rest  during  the  night,  while  the  men 
try  to  gain  a  few  hours'  sleep.  But  our  experiences  in 
this  venture  were  not  such  as  to  be  conducive  to 
slumber ;  indeed,  it  proved  one  of  the  most  anxious 
and  restless  nights  which  had  fallen  to  our  lot  while 
in  this  region.  During  the  early  part  of  the  evening 
we  felt  particularly  pleased  at  the  prospect  of  a  quiet 
night.  Everything  seems  to  promise  this.  The 
weather  is  clearing ;  the  temperature  has  fallen  a 
degree  or  two ;  the  sky  exhibits  a  bit  of  blue  here 
and  there ;  and  even  the  ever  stormy  sea  eases  its 

156 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

merciless  pitches.  The  Belgica  gHdes  along  easily 
and  restfully  as  though  she  expected  the  needed 
period  of  rest,  while  the  petrels  and  gulls  hover 
over  us  as  if  to  pilot  us  to  a  safe  retreat.  At 
six  o'clock  we  are  within  a  few  miles  of  a  chain  of 
low  islands.  They  are  small  masses,  mostly  about 
a  quarter  of  a  mile  in  their  greatest  diameter.  Some 
are  completely  buried  by  a  cap  of  ice  sixty  feet 
thick,  but  others  are  bare.  The  rocks  are  mostly 
granite,  smoothly  polished  by  the  combined  action 
of  the  sea  and  the  ice.  With  our  glasses  we  can 
see  small  patches  of  green  and  brown  moss  in 
sheltered  nooks ;  the  snows  along  the  shore  are 
tinged  red  from  penguin  habitation,  and  green  with 
sea  algae.  Scattered  all  about  these  islands  are  a 
great  number  of  large  icebergs.  The  chain  of 
islands  and  the  berg  certainly  offer  us  a  safe  and 
promising  shelter. 

After  steaming  into  a  canal  beyond  which  we  ex- 
pected to  lay-to  we  found  ourselves  suddenly  and 
unexpectedly  surrounded  by  white  crests,  under 
which  appeared  a  circle  of  submerged  rocks.  So 
complete  was  this  hidden  circle  of  danger  about  us 
that  we  could  not,  for  a  long  time,  find  a  spot  where 
the  distance  between  two  rocks  was  sufficient  to  per- 
mit an  escape.  We  dropped  a  lead  fifty  fathoms,  sev- 
eral times,  but  found  no  bottom.  A  current  rushed 
over  the  reefs  and  with  our  full  force  we  could  barely 
make  headway  against  it.  In  this  position,  with 
the  swash  of  the  breaking  waters  coming  to  us  out 
of  the  darkness,  with  the  penguins  and  the  gulls 
screaming    premonitions   of  danger,    we  struggled 

157 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

against  a  current  which  seemed  set  to  effect  our  des- 
truction on  one  of  the  reefs  behind  us.  The  firemen 
forced  the  steam,  and  the  engineer  urged  on  the 
engines  as  he  had  never  done  before.  Little  by 
Httle  we  gained  on  the  force  of  the  current  and  headed 
for  an  iceberg  which  was  about  one  hundred  feet 
high.  We  argued  that  if  there  was  sufficient  water 
to  strand  this  berg  it  would  be  enough  for  us ;  but 
the  passage  to  the  berg  was  not  more  than  one 
hundred  feet  wide,  and  if  there  were  or  were  not 
dangerous  shallows  there  we  had  no  means  of  deter- 
mining. The  sea  was  too  heavy  to  send  a  boat  in 
advance  to  make  a  sounding ;  and  because  of  the 
rocky  and  uneven  character  of  the  sea  bottom,  sound- 
ings from  on  board  gave  us  little  warning.  We 
must  steam  on  and  take  our  chances. 

These  were  anxious  moments.  We  expected  mo- 
mentarily to  feel  a  sudden  jar  and  a  sudden  arrest  of 
our  progress.  We  had  had  such  an  experience 
twice  before,  and  now  expected  a  third.  Amundsen 
was  in  the  foremast;  Gerlache  and  Lecointe  were 
on  the  bridge ;  Arctowski  and  I  were  on  the  bow- 
sprit. We  were  all  looking  for  and  expecting 
trouble,  but  we  passed  beyond  the  angry  crests  of 
the  reefs  and  out  into  deeper  waters  safely.  The 
sense  of  relief  and  rest  which  came  over  us  at  this 
time  was  indeed  a  godsend. 

Selecting  a  position  in  the  lee  of  these  islands,  and 
close  to  a  large  grounded  iceberg,  the  bark  was 
brought  up  to  the  wind  and  kept  under  easy  steam. 
It  was  difficult  to  keep  from  drifting  onto  the  islands 
or  the  bergs.     At  midnight  the  wind  came  down 

158 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

from  the  glacial  gullies  and  brushed  the  masts  with 
hellish  force,  sending  us  pitching  and  tossing  over 
the  disturbed  sea  in  a  manner  which  unbalanced 
the  equilibrium  of  the  stomachs  of  even  the  oldest 
sailors.  Now  we  rocked  within  a  few  yards  of  the 
death-dealing  wall  of  a  berg,  and  again  we  rolled 
uncomfortably  near  the  phosphorescent  breakers  of 
a  submerged  mountain.  Material  for  our  destruc- 
tion was  always  close  at  hand,  and  we  went  out  often 
to  see  it.  Sleep,  rest,  and  quietude  were  far  from 
us  on  this  memorable  night  of  the  fourteenth. 

Early  in  the  morning  of  the  fifteenth  we  withdrew 
from  our  nightmare  of  terrors  and  took  to  the  more 
stormy  and  less  dangerous  waters  westward.  There 
had  been  some  snow,  and  rain,  and  sleet  during  the 
night.  The  ropes  were  coated  with  ice,  the  masts 
incased  in  a  glassy  plating,  and  the  decks  as  slip- 
pery as  ice  could  make  them.  The  sea  struck  us 
heavily  under  the  starboard  poop  and  spread  a  spray 
of  water  over  the  quarter-deck.  We  took  the  wind 
from  the  north-east  and  set  a  course  south-south-west. 
The  wind  being  free  it  became  necessary  to  manipu- 
late the  sails  and  hustle  about  on  deck.  With  the 
vessel  madly  rocking,  the  ropes  incased  in  ice,  and  the 
floor  glassy  and  glittering,  the  difficulty  of  this  work 
can  be  more  easily  imagined  than  written.  In  one 
corner  there  a  sailor  on  hands  and  knees  was  trying 
to  keep  from  being  used  as  a  baseball ;  in  another, 
an  officer  was  making  the  air  sulphureous  because 
the  ice  on  the  ropes  has  cut  his  hand.  Just 
then  the  cook  came  along,  and  finding  it  more 
easy  to    stand    on    his    head  than  on  his  feet,  the 

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THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

soup  was  spread  over  the  ice  as  a  lubricant ;  and 
then  some  one  uttered  complaints  in  easy  Belgica 
language  because  there  would  be  no  soup  for  his 
dinner.  Altogether  this  was  a  day  of  misery,  and  it 
was  followed  by  many  of  a  like  nature. 

Nearly  everybody  was  seasick  to-day ;  at  least, 
everybody  would  be  if  they  admitted  the  truth.  No 
one  feels  quite  comfortable ;  we  are  all  inexpressibly 
tired  and  sleepy  and  uncomfortable  at  the  pit  of  the 
stomach,  but  nobody  admits  being  a  worshipper  of 
Neptune.  One  is  bilious,  another  has  eaten  some 
''embalmed  beef,"  some  have  headaches,  others  rheu- 
matism. All  the  symptoms  indicate  ordinary  sea- 
sickness, the  effects  of  the  sudden  throws  upon  the 
brisk,  choppy  sea.  I  have  often  noticed  this  glum 
feeling  come  over  an  entire  ship's  company  after 
being  in  ice  or  sheltered  waters  for  any  considerable 
time,  as  we  have  been.  We  pride  ourselves,  how- 
ever, as  being  weather-beaten  sailors,  and  having 
passed  the  nauseating  storms  of  Cape  Horn  we 
are  not  going  to  admit  mal  de  mer,  even  if  we  did 
feed  the  fish  several  times  during  the  course  of  a 
meal. 


1 60 


CHAPTER  XII 

ACROSS  THE  ANTARCTIC  CIRCLE— FIRST  EFFORTS 
TO  PENETRATE  THE  PACK 

On  the  evening  of 
the  fifteenth  we  had 
sunk  the  land  and 
the  drift-ice  under 
the  north  -  eastern 
horizon.  There  re- 
Snowy  Petrel,  mains,  in  that  direc- 

(Pagodro^anivea).  ^^^^^    ^^     ice-bHuk,    a 

bright,  cream -colored  zone  on  the  sky,  which  indi- 
cates that  ice  and  land  is  not  far  off  Icebergs  are 
about  us  in  great  numbers,  but  they  are  all  small, 
hard,  rounded  masses,  showing  the  effect  of  stormy 
seas.  None  are  over  one  hundred  feet  high,  and  all 
have  a  polished  surface  with  huge  blue  cavities,  into 
which  the  sea  rushes  with  a  cannon-like  roar.  Giant 
petrels,  cape  pigeons,  albatrosses  and  gulls  hover 
about  the  bark  in  the  air,  but  in  the  water  we  see  no 
life.  The  night  promises  to  be  clear,  with  a  continued 
fair  wind  sending  us  along  at  the  rate  of  six  knots 
without  steam.  We  are  all  on  deck  watching  the  good 
old  ship  plough  her  way  merrily  through  the  virgin 
antarctic  seas,  feeling  proud  of  her  sterling  qualities, 

i6i 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

and  of  her  sailing  capacity,  when  the  Captain  sud- 
denly springs  into  an  ecstasy.  He  acts  like  a  boy 
with  a  new  toy.  We  look  about  for  the  reason 
for  all  the  commotion,  and  he  points  to  the  heavens ; 
there,  through  a  break  in  the  low  stratus  clouds, 
gleams  a  star.  It  is  a  lonely  speck  in  a  narrow 
strip  of  blue,  but  it  is  the  first  star  which  we  have 
seen  while  along  the  edge  of  the  south  polar  lands. 

If  our  dead  reckoning  is  correct  we  shall  cross  the 
antarctic  circle  to-night,  but  we  have  had  no  op- 
portunity for  several  days  to  fix  our  position.  The 
intermittent  fogs  and  heavy  clouds  which  hang  over 
us  constantly  have  deprived  us  of  the  necessary 
glimpses  of  the  sun,  the  moon,  and  the  stars,  with 
which  to  make  the  nautical  calculations.  At  present 
our  positions  by  account  are  only  guesses  at  an  actual 
location  because  of  our  absolute  ignorance  of  the  cur- 
rents. During  the  day  and  the  preceding  night  we 
passed  great  numbers  of  icebergs,  but  they  were  all 
of  the  sea- washed  and  storm-rasped  type  ;  irregular 
in  shape,  few  over  a  hundred  feet  high,  and  all  of 
a  dull  gray  blue  colour.  The  bergs  here  seem  to 
be  fragments  of  larger  tabular  masses.  Early  in 
the  evening  a  yellow  cloud-like  figure  rose  out  of 
the  south-east.  This,  on  a  closer  approach,  proved 
to  be  a  continuation  of  the  mainland.  There  were 
tall  angular  peaks  which  stood  out  boldly  against 
the  ice-blink  thrown  upon  the  vapour  which  hangs 
over  the  land.  Between  these  black  peaks  were 
blue  valleys  filled  with  glaciers,  pouring  their  frozen 
streams  down  the  slopes  and  out  into  the  sea. 

At  eight  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  the  sixteenth 

162 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

we  came  on  deck  to  gain  the  first  view  of  the  new 
panorama  which  the  lifting  fogs  had  unveiled.  The 
land  here,  behind  a  very  bold  black  headland  mark- 
ing the  bluff  point  of  a  projecting  cape,  trends  sud- 
denly eastward  and  sinks  under  the  horizon.  The 
north-western  side  of  this  cape  is  remarkable  for  its 
great  tongue  of  ice  spreading  out  smoothly  from  a 
snow-covered  ridge  far  interior,  and  breaking  off  in 
an  even  uninterrupted  wall  of  ice  at  the  seashore. 
The  southern  shore  has  also  a  great  ice-wall,  but 
this  wall  is  interrupted  by  several  black,  rocky  cliffs 
which  separate  the  land-ice  into  numerous  glacial 
streams.  Beyond  the  black  headland  there  are  two 
sharp  peaks,  about  four  thousand  feet  high,  and  to 
each  side  of  these  are  a  few  dome-like  mountains  of 
a  lesser  height.  About  ten  miles  beyond  this  ridge 
there  is  a  chain  of  white  peaks,  with  a  general 
height  of  perhaps  six  thousand  feet,  running  parallel 
to  the  eastward  trend  of  the  coast.  Far  to  the 
south,  still  fifty  or  sixty  miles  off,  we  saw  a  great 
mass  of  high  land  which  later  proved  to  be  a  group 
of  islands.  Between  the  headland  eastward,  upon 
which  our  eyes  first  landed,  and  the  great  cliffs  to 
the  south,  there  is  a  break  in  the  land  which  may  be 
a  bay  or  a  strait.  It  is  filled  with  heavy  sea-ice  and 
studded  with  countless  icebergs,  making  an  exami- 
nation of  the  continuation  of  the  coast  impossible. 
We  were  compelled  to  set  a' course  southward,  leav- 
ing open  the  question  as  to  whether  the  coast  of 
Grahamland  ends  here  or  extends  farther  poleward. 
Leaving  this  land  behind  us  we  steamed  southward 
during  the  day,  pressing  as  closely  to  the  land  in 

163 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

that  direction  as  the  pack-ice,  which  was  held  close 
to  the  shore,  would  permit.  We  decided,  at  this 
time,  that  the  land  before  us  was  Alexanderland,  and 
behind  us,  probably,  that  which  is  charted  as  Adelaide 
Island ;  but  there  is  nothing  about  this  latter  land, 
as  we  view  it  over  the  stern,  which  indicates  that  it 
is  an  island.  If  an  island,  which  Lecointe  doubts, 
it  must  be  a  very  large  one,  with  the  eastern  ter- 
mination beyond  our  horizon.  On  the  whole,  it 
seems  to  us  like  a  very  large  country,  ridged  by 
at  least  two  high  mountain  chains,  which  are  covered 
with  ice  to  their  peaks.  We  have  formed  the  im- 
pression that  it  is  a  part  of  the  mainland,  and  con- 
clude that  a  strait  probably  separates  Grahamland 
from  the  farther  antarctic.  But  this  is  merely  an 
impression ;  the  facts  are  that  the  land,  though 
agreeing  in  position  with  the  assigned  location  of 
Adelaide  Island,  does  not  bear  any  resemblance  to 
the  discoverer's  meagre  description.  As  to  the  land 
before  us,  there  seems  to  be  no  doubt  among  the 
officers  but  that  it  is  the  country  charted  Alexander 
I.  Land,  by  the  Russian  explorer,  Bellingshausen, 
seventy-six  years  ago.  He  saw  it  only  from  a  great 
distance  and  it  has  not  been  seen  by  human  eyes 
before  or  since.  Now  the  Belgica  is  heading  for 
it;  but  there  is  so  much  heavy  pack-ice,  which 
appears  to  embrace  the  shores,  that  we  do  not 
entertain  any  hopes  of  effecting  a  landing. 

At  noon  our  latitude  was  6"]^  58^  south,  the  longi- 
tude, 69°  53'  west  of  Greenwich.  We  hauled  a 
little  westward  of  the  outer  drift  of  the  pack,  and 
Alexanderland  rose  up  over  our  port  bow  still  forty 

164 


ANTARCTIC   NIGHT 

or  fifty  miles  away.  There  are  scattered  in  the 
waters  westward,  and  in  the  pack  eastward,  forty- 
four  icebergs  of  moderate  size.  About  half  of  these 
are  tabular  in  form  ;  the  other  half  are  of  the  pinna- 
cled and  sea-washed,  or  weather-worn  variety.  A 
few  small  black-billed  penguins  are  in  the  water, 
darting  over  the  surface  and  again  into  the  deep, 
with  electric  swiftness.  Close  to  the  pack-ice,  there 
rises  from  the  black  surface  of  the  sea,  a  number  of 
columns  of  vapour-like  jets.  Through  our  glasses 
we  see  under  these  the  black  backs  of  whales  with 
large  dorsal  fins,  and  occasionally  a  ponderous  tail 
whips  the  water  into  a  foamy  whirlpool.  On  some 
of  the  pans  of  ice  are  seals  basking  in  the  sun,  and 
over  the  ship,  apparently  touching  the  masts  and 
the  ropes  as  the  bark  rocks  to  and  fro,  are  giant 
petrels,  Cape  pigeons,  gulls,  white,  brown,  and  blue 
petrels,  all  pointing  their  bills  and  stretching  their 
necks  to  examine,  perhaps  for  the  first  time,  human 
beings  and  their  crafts. 

There  is  a  dreamy  stillness  in  the  air,  in  spite  of 
the  frequent  stirs  of  wild  life,  and  a  charming  touch 
of  colour  to  the  sea,  the  ice,  and  the  land,  though 
the  sky  is  dull,  gray,  and  gloomy.  At  first  glance 
all  seems  white  and  black,  and  we  are  impressed 
with  the  weight  of  the  awful  snowy  solitude 
into  which  we  are  entering.  A  sense  of  chilly 
loneliness  is  more  and  more  forced  upon  us  by  the 
passing  panorama  of  snow,  and  ice,  and  deserted 
rocks.  But,  critically  considered,  after  the  first  pangs 
of  desolation  have  passed,  there  are  a  few  of  us  who 
find  some  cheer  and  colour  in  the  harmony  of  the 

165 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

perennial  chilliness  before  us.  This  morning  there 
was  a  break  in  the  clouds,  and  through  this  came  a 
flood  of  yellow  light  which  made  the  bergs  and  the 
icy  cliffs  of  Alexanderland  stand  out  like  walls  of 
gold.  Shortly  after  noon  a  pale  blue  was  thrown 
over  the  white  glitter  of  the  pack,  which  increased 
the  high  lights,  darkened  the  shadows,  and  made 
the  moving  mass  of  whiteness,  as  it  rose  and  fell  with 
the  giant  wave  of  the  sea,  a  thing  of  gladness. 

At  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  we  had  made  a 
rough  outline  of  the  new  land  before  us.  It  proved 
to  be  a  group  of  islands  (Alexander  Islands)  about 
twenty-five  miles  long  and  from  ten  to  fifteen  miles 
wide.  There  is  one  large  central  island,  about 
eighteen  miles  long,  with  a  high  ridge  of  mountains 
running  approximately  from  east  to  west.  In  this 
ridge  there  are  three  peaks  not  less  than  four  thou- 
sand, f[VG  hundred  feet  in  altitude.  These  are  quite 
pyramidal  in  form  and  are  covered  with  snow  to  their 
summits,  with  only  an  occasional  bare,  perpendicular 
rock.  This  ridge  of  mountains  tapers  gradually 
towards  the  west  and  terminates  abruptly  in  the 
east.  Running  parallel  to  this  central  ridge,  about 
four  miles  southward,  there  is  a  lesser  chain  of  moun- 
tains about  two  thousand  feet  high,  whose  sides  sink 
almost  perpendicularly  into  the  sea.  There  is  also 
a  similar  ridge  to  the  southward.  The  two  valleys 
between  these  three  ridges  of  mountains  are  filled 
with  great  sheets  of  glacial  ice.  We  had  a  splendid 
view  of  these  glaciers  as  we  passed  about  twenty 
miles  off  the  western  end  of  the  island.  The  northern 
valley  was  rough,   much   crevassed,    and  generally 

1 66 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

irregular,  extending  its  tongue  out  over  the  sea  for 
several  miles.  The  valley  south  of  the  central 
ridge  appeared  like  a  great  plain  with  easy  slopes 
toward  the  sea,  where  the  frozen  mass  seemed  to 
project  over  the  waters  for  a  short  distance.  Around 
this  one  large  island  were  a  number  of  small 
islands,  angular  rocky  masses,  mostly  covered  with 
caps  of  glacial  ice.  These,  from  a  greater  distance, 
appeared  to  be  a  part  of  the  main  central  land 
mass.  The  vast  number  of  icebergs  to  the  east- 
ward of  the  land  gave  it,  also,  from  a  greater  dis- 
tance, the  appearance  of  being  connected  with  some 
larger  land  eastward  ;  but  from  our  various  positions 
we  were  able  to  make  out  distinctly  that  the  islands 
are  a  separate  group  with  no  other  land  eastward 
within  sight.  Our  positions  northward  in  the  morn- 
ing and  southward  during  the  night,  proved  this. 
We  saw  some  signs  of  land  to  the  south  during  the 
afternoon,  but  these  vanished  later.  It  was  evidently 
a  mirage. 

We  lost  sight  of  the  Alexander  Islands  at  about  ten 
o'clock  last  night,  when  it  became  too  dark  to  see 
more  than  a  few  miles.  During  the  night  we 
steamed  slowly  over  a  south-westerly  course  close  to 
the  edge  of  the  pack.  At  6  a.  m.  (February  1 7) 
the  fires  were  covered  and  the  sails  braced  to  a  fair 
wind,  sending  us  along,  south-westerly,  at  the  rate 
of  about  four  knots.  There  was  some  rain  and  snow 
during  the  night,  which  lined  the  decks,  covered  the 
ropes,  and  sheeted  the  sails  with  ice.  So  thoroughly 
were  the  sails  incased  that  we  were  unable  to  set  the 
patent  topsails.     We  hammered  and  pounded   the 

167 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

sails  and  then  we  pulled  and  lugged  at  the  ropes, 
but  our  efforts  were  in  vain.  The  steam-winch  was 
brought  to  our  aid,  but  it,  too,  failed  to  bring  down 
the  icy  sails.  At  eight  o'clock,  when  I  came  on 
deck,  there  was  no  land  or  ice  in  sight.  (We  saw 
no  more  land  for  thirteen  months.) 

An  hour  later  we  passed  along  the  outer  fringe 
of  small  fragments  of  drift  ice.  The  weather 
changed  every  few  minutes.  Alternately  we  had 
rain,  and  sleet,  and  fog,  and  snow.  Our  speed  was 
increasing  and  the  wind  came  in  strong  puffs.  We 
had  seen  very  few  bergs  in  the  forenoon,  but  the 
horizon  was  constantly  hazed  by  thick  weather,  so 
we  must  have  passed  many  without  being  able  to 
see  them.  Just  before  noon,  while  trying  to  walk 
over  the  slippery  decks,  my  attention  was  suddenly 
directed  to  a  dark  spot  in  the  fog  over  our  port  bow. 
I  watched  this  for  a  second  or  two,  for  the  spot 
grew  curiously  lighter  as  we  went  on.  Everything 
was  stiff,  and  dark,  and  dull.  The  look-out  on  the 
capstan  threw  his  arm  easily,  but  anxiously,  on  the 
anchor  and  leaned  over  to  fix  his  eye  on  the  same 
object,  but  he  gave  no  signal,  and  I  said  nothing, 
for  there  didn'  t  seem  to  be  anything  tangible  to  re- 
port. The  Captain  now  walked  from  the  chart  table 
to  the  port-side  of  the  bridge  ;  just  as  he  caught  sight 
of  the  curious  object  it  brightened  with  a  blink  and  a 
fraction  of  a  second  later  a  great  wall  of  ice,  tower- 
ing far  above  the  masts,  stood  before  us.  *'  Hard-a 
starboard,"  shouted  the  Captain,  with  such  abrupt- 
ness and  such  force  that  a  quiver  went  deep  into 
the  heart  of  everyone  on  deck  ;  a  few  moments  later 

i68 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

we  grazed  the  marble-like  cliff  of  a  huge  iceberg, 
gliding  by  so  closely  that  we  nearly  scraped  its 
knife-like  edges. 

During  the  afternoon  we  sailed  westerly,  keeping 
the  streams  of  drift-ice  within  sight.  There  were 
fewer  icebergs  as  we  advanced,  but  it  continued 
foggy,  with  alternate  squalls  of  rain  and  snow, 
which  prevented  our  seeing  to  any  long  distance. 
The  ice  which  we  have  passed  within  the  past 
few  days,  and  the  pack  to  the  southward,  are  not, 
at  any  place,  formidable  except  in  the  choked  chan- 
nels, Bismarck  Inlet,  and  the  inlet  north  of  Alexander- 
land.  If  we  had  awaited  an  easterly  wind,  which 
is  the  prevailing  wind  of  summer,  no  doubt  we 
might  have  forced  a  way  southward  along  the  coast 
of  Grahamland.  The  season  for  antarctic  navigation, 
however,  is  already  past,  and  if  we  are  to  make  a 
point  far  south  this  year,  which  the  Commandant 
desires,  we  must  push  on  with  all  force. 

Early  in  the  evening  the  prow  was  turned  south- 
ward. With  sails  and  steam  the  good  ship  was  rushed 
through  the  light  streams  of  drift-ice.  The  sea 
rolled  under  her  in  great  inky  mountains  and  the 
ice,  in  response  to  the  wave,  gave  off  a  noise  like  the 
crackle  of  a  silk  garment.  At  midnight  we  came  to 
a  region  where  the  sea  was  closely  covered  with 
ice,  but  the  pieces  were  still  small  and  separated  by 
bands  of  water  covered  with  brash. 

6  a.  m.  February  1 8.  Those  of  us  not  directly 
connected  with  the  navigation  of  the  bark,  and  the 
men  off  watch,  slept  very  little  last  night ;  the  noise 
of  the  larger   pans,    as  they  struck  the  ship,    and 

169 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

the  grating  and  rasping  of  the  smaller  fragments,  as 
the  Belgica  was  forced  through  the  ice,  was  such 
that  sleep  was  impossible.  We  were  all  anxious 
and  uneasy.  There  was  little  wind,  but  it  was 
dark  and  foggy,  and  icebergs  were  everywhere  to 
be  expected.  Mentally  another  berg  collision  was 
contantly  before  us  and  every  unusual  thump  sug- 
gested a  calamity.  As  the  purple  gray  of  dawn 
illuminated  the  horizon  eastward,  our  hearts  beat 
more  easily,  and  our  minds  were  more  at  rest,  though 
the  new  scene  which  now  lay  before  us  was  the 
most  hopeless  icy-desolation  which,  to  the  present, 
it  had  been  our  lot  to  see. 

All  about  us  the  ice  was  very  closely  packed.  There 
was  a  seemingly  endless  sea  of  ice,  waving  on  the 
swell  of  the  great  restless  waters  under  us.  It  was 
the  first  really  good  view  which  we  had  had  of  the 
characteristic  ice,  which  covers  the  limitless  expanse 
of  this  circum-polar  ocean.  Farther  northward  the 
true  sea-ice  was  so  much  melted  and  weather-worn, 
and  so  much  mixed  with  small  angular  fragments  of 
icebergs  and  other  land-ice,  that  the  pack  was  a  con- 
glomerate mass  entirely  different  from  the  true  pack- 
ice.  Now,  as  the  sun  rose  and  the  mist  dissolved, 
we  saw  pans  of  ice  of  an  average  diameter  of  one 
hundred  feet,  with  a  thickness  of  five  feet,  whose  sur- 
faces were  raised  here  and  there,  by  old  wind-rasped 
hummocks  or  miniature  mountains,  from  one  to  two 
yards  high.  Between  these  pans  there  were  zones 
of  water  covered  with  closely  packed  pulverised  ice, 
in  which  there  were  some  pieces  a  few  feet  in  diam- 
eter. In  our  efforts  to  push  southward  we  selected 
these  lanes  between  the  larger  pans,  but  the  fine  ice 

170 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

so  effectually  stopped  our  progress  that  even  by  us- 
ing the  full  power  of  the  engines  we  could  not  make 
more  than  two  miles  in  six  hours.  A  long  and  con- 
tinuous swell  of  the  Pacific  was  responsible  for  the 
steady  pressure  and  forced  continuity  of  the  pack. 
Here,  also,  were  large  numbers  of  icebergs  scattered 
in  the  pack,  and  from  a  distance  they  seemed  to  offer 
a  continuous  barrier.  While  this  was  not  true  when 
the  horizon  was  closely  examined,  their  influence,  how- 
ever, coupled  with  the  power  of  the  great  swell  of 
the  sea,  was  an  effective  bar  to  farther  progress. 

On  the  ice  we  see  a  number  of  crab-eating  seals, 
mostly  in  pairs,  but  some  in  groups  of  five  or  six. 
They  are  in  a  sleepy  mood  and  evidently  enjoy  the 
sharp  sunbursts  which  now  and  then  light  up  the  beds 
of  snow  and  the  projecting  icy  spires  with  an  electric 
glow.  There  are  a  few  penguins  about,  and  also 
some  giant  petrels ;  but  the  ornithological  surprise 
of  the  day  is  the  countless  thousands  of  terns  rest- 
ing on,  and  hovering  about,  the  icebergs.  Great 
rows  cover  the  ridges,  and  in  some  places  the  air  is 
one  hustling  mass  of  bird  life,  all  seeming  to  strive 
for  a  place  to  fly,  or  fighting  for  a  resting  spot  on 
the  higher  angles  of  the  bergs. 

During  the  afternoon  we  saw  a  black  zone  along 
the  northern  horizon.  It  was  a  water-sky  indicating 
that  under  it  there  was  open,  ice-free  water.  To  the 
south,  to  the  east,  and  to  the  west,  however,  there 
was  everywhere  the  dazzling  whiteness  of  the  ice- 
blink on  the  heavens,  offering  no  hope  of  advance. 

We  now  tried  to  retrace  our  path,  but  we  were  held 
with  such  a  firm  embrace  that  we  could  not  gain 
sufficient  room  to  turn.     At  six  o'clock  the  press- 

171 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

ure  slackened  a  little  and,  at  the  same  time,  we  saw  a 
black  line  of  open  water  about  two  miles  westward. 
We  headed  for  this  and  for  seven  long  hours  we 
struggled  with  full  force  to  press  between  the  firmly 
packed  floes.  After  midnight  we  were  again  in  free 
waters,  and  set  a  course  westerly  along  the  edge  of 
the  pack-ice. 

February  19,  noon,  latitude  69°  o6^  longitude  78^ 
27'  30'^  The  conditions  permitting  nautical  ob- 
servations are  rare  at  the  edge  of  the  pack,  because 
here  the  atmosphere  is  in  a  constant  whirlpool  of 
agitation.  Storm,  fog,  rain,  sleet  and  snow,  are  the 
normal  conditions.  One  rarely  gets  a  peep  of  the 
sun,  and  if  by  chance  it  should  break  through,  it  is 
seldom  at  noon  or  at  an  hour  convenient  for  the  Cap- 
tain to  make  his  reckoning.  If  then  it  happens,  as 
it  has  to-day,  that  we  obtain  the  observations  which 
fix  our  position  accurately  in  this  lonely  world  of 
desolation,  a  kind  of  boyish  rejoicing  runs  along  the 
line  of  men  on  the  decks ;  and  even  in  the  cabins, 
one  hears  comparisons.  One  says,  ''  Now  I  am  nine 
thousand,  nine  hundred  and  eighty-nine  miles  from 
home.  It  is  noon,  but  at  home  they  are  just  taking 
breakfast."  Another  says,  "  Everybody  that  I  love 
is  nine  thousand  miles  over  our  starboard  quarter. 
They  are  just  entering  upon  the  duties  of  the  day." 
It  has  suddenly  occurred  to  every  one  to  think  of 
home  and  of  civilisation,  for  we  are  going  farther 
and  farther  away  from  the  known  world  of  life  and 
comfort  into  the  unknown  world  of  sterility  and  dis- 
comfort. To-day  we  know  the  exact  spot  on  which 
we  are  being  thrown  about  by  a  great  unknown  sea 
of  mystery,  and  this  knowledge  seems  to  bring  us 

172 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

nearer  home  because  it  offers  us  something  tangible 
with  which  to  make  comparisons.  In  reahty,  however, 
we  are  as  hopelessly  isolated  as  if  we  were  on  the 
surface  of  Mars,  and  we  are  plunging  still  deeper  and 
deeper  into  the  white  antarctic  silence.  A  man  at 
the  verge  of  starvation  takes  a  certain  comfort  in 
knowing,  though  it  is  out  of  his  reach,  that  food 
exists.  So  with  us,  we  extract  a  certain  amount  of 
satisfaction  out  of  the  numbers  which  record  our 
latitude  and  longitude  to-day,  though  our  homes 
are  proven  by  the  figures  to  be  out  of  all  possible 
reach  for  months,  perhaps  for  years,  and  possibly 
forever. 

All  day  we  have  steamed  westerly  along  the  edge 
of  the  pack,  passing  very  many  icebergs  and  run- 
ning through  occasional  streams  of  drift-ice.  We 
have  been  looking  for  an  opening  into  the  ice  offer- 
ing us  a  passage  southward,  but  we  have  found  no 
promising  break  in  the  compact  mass.  Excepting 
the  sunburst  at  noon  it  has  been  a  dark,  dull, 
gloomy  day.  A  light  fall  of  snow,  mixed  with  a 
cold  drizzling  rain,  has  fallen  over  us  almost  con- 
stantly. This  has  again  made  the  decks  like  a  sli- 
ding pond.  It  is  humorous,  but  also  sorrowful,  to 
see  the  men,  whose  clothing  is  sheeted  with  a  plate 
of  ice,  stumble  and  glide  and  slip  from  rope  to  rope, 
always  holding  on  to  something  to  keep  from  spread- 
ing on  the  floor  or  glancing  overboard  into  the  icy 
waters.  If  one  falls  he  swears  and  warms  the  cold 
air  by  heated  language,  but  he  is  at  once  subdued 
by  a  companion,  who  says,  ''  What !  you  complain  of 
such  little  accidents,  and  you  an  explorer  ?  No ! 
that  is  the  voice  of  a  kitchen  adventurer." 

173 


CHAPTER  XIII 

ALONG  THE  EDGE  OF  THE  PACK-ICE 

For  the  last  few  days  we  have  had  under  discus- 
sion a  striking  pecuHarity  of  the  antarctic  pack.  It 
is  a  noticeable  yellowness  in  the  second  sheets  of 
newly  broken  pieces  of  ice.  We  saw  this  first  in 
the  ice  close  to  Dancoland,  and  at  this  time  most  of 
us  thought  it  due  to  earthy  material  from  the  neigh- 
bouring lands.  But  we  have  seen  it  to-day  and  we 
have  seen  it  every  day  since  we  left  this  land  now 
hundreds  of  miles  eastward.  Can  it  be  earthy 
matter  ?  In  the  laboratory  there  have  been  a  num- 
ber of  experiments  made.  Almost  every  depart- 
ment claims  the  mysterious  yellow  as  its  special 
preserve,  but  all  are  at  work  either  guessing  or 
making  painstaking  experiments  or  observations. 
The  discussions  grow  quite  heated.  The  navigating 
officers,  with  whom  I  coincided,  held  that  it  was 
earthy  matter  brought  down  upon  the  sea-ice  by 
glacial  streams.  The  fact  that  it  is  seen  most  close 
to  the  land,  and  only  in  patches  in  our  present  posi- 
tion, seems  to  bear  out  this  fact ;  but  the  geologist, 
who  is  a  chemist  of  ability,  will  not  agree  to  this, 
and  heaps  upon  us  all  sorts  of  mild  humourous  abuse. 

174 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

Arctowski  has  experiments  in  hand  which  he  thinks 
will  prove  a  chemical  origin  of  the  knotty  yellow 
question.  None  of  us  are  chemists,  and  of  course 
we  cannot  dispute  the  theory  of  a  chemical  origin, 
but  we  hold  fast  to  our  first  idea.  The  zoologist 
would  not  venture  a  theory,  but  he  said  it  belonged 
to  his  department,  and  we  tried  to  talk  him  down  also, 
but  he  would  say  little  and  took  our  unkindly  jests 
goodnaturedly.  Late  in  the  afternoon  Racovitza 
came  out  of  his  laboratory  all  aglow  with  good 
humour,  but  he  heaped  upon  us  of  the  majority,  a 
stream  of  abuse  which  made  us,  for  the  time,  aban- 
don all  theories.  He  has  examined  the  yellow 
stuff  carefully  under  the  microscope  and  finds  the 
ice  literally  alive  with  sea  algae,  which  prove  to  be 
the  cause  of  the  yellow  colour.  For  a  short  time 
this  is  hailed  as  a  discovery,  but  presently  some  one 
finds  that  it  had  been  noticed  by  Hooker  sixty  years 
ago.  Then  followed  a  discordant  murmur  on  the 
strains,  "There  is  nothing  new  under  the  sun." 

Shortly  after  noon  we  made  a  sounding.  We 
found  the  water  480  metres  deep,  under  which  there 
was  a  gray  clay  bottom.  There  is  very  little  variation 
in  the  temperature  of  the  sea  at  various  depths.  At 
the  bottom  it  is  i^  C;  coming  up  there  are  little 
variations  of  a  half  degree,  and  at  the  surface  it  is 
-i.5°C.(29.3°F.).  At  the  timeof  making  these  sound- 
ings there  were  seventy-eight  icebergs  on  the  horizon, 
most  of  them  southward,  a  few  miles  within  the 
edge  of  the  pack-ice.  There  were  also  a  few  lines 
of  drift-ice  flowing  northward  in  the  trough  of  the 
sea.     The  sea  is  running  in  easy  undulations  with 

175 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

an  oily,  unbroken  surface  of  blue,  and  though  the 
sky  is  slaty,  there  is  a  charm  in  the  solitude  and  a 
fascination  in  the  scenic  effects  as  the  pearly  moun- 
tains and  streams  of  ice  rise  and  fall  with  the  sea  of 
sapphire. 

At  ten  o'clock  to-night  we  turned  around  a  point 
of  heavy  drift-ice  and  headed  southward.  Before 
us  here  there  seemed  to  be  little  ice  to  offer  an  ob- 
struction to  our  ambitions  to  reach  the  regions  be- 
yond. To  the  east  and  the  west  there  was  a  distinct 
ice-blink,  but  southward  we  saw  a  smoky  water-sky. 
The  sea,  as  we  advanced,  became  even  smoother 
than  it  had  been,  and  was  entirely  free  of  ice. 

We  seem  to  select  the  nights  for  our  attacks  upon 
the  barriers  of  ice  which  everywhere  have  threatened 
to  prevent  our  entry  into  the  snowy  preserve  beyond. 
During  the  night  the  temperature  falls,  the  fog, 
which  always  screens  the  ice  in  daytime,  is  congealed 
and  deposited  as  snow ;  and,  though  the  sky  here  at 
the  edge  of  the  pack  generally  remains  dark  at 
night,  there  is  an  incomprehensible  metallic  glow  on 
the  glassy  surface  of  the  water,  and  a  sharp  phos- 
phoretic  glitter  from  every  spire  and  pan  of  ice.  The 
night  is  a  long  twilight,  and  when  the  demons  of 
storm  are  not  hovering  about  it  is  a  long,  dreamy 
spell  of  joy.  The  inspiration  of  this  solitude,  the 
transcendental  and  indescribable  something  about 
this  continued  twilight  from  sunset  to  dawn,  and  the 
wine  which  one  drinks  with  the  wintry  atmosphere 
raises  the  soul  into  a  plane  of  superhuman  existence. 
The  glory  of  these  midnight  glimmers  will  haunt  me 
for  the  rest  of  my  days.     But  we  are  below  the  ant- 

176 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

arctic  circle,  and  the  average  reader  will  expect  that 
we  are  flooded  by  the  almost  perpetual  light  of  the 
polar  summer  day.  This  would  be  true  earlier  in 
the  season ;  but  now  the  sun  is  low  on  the  horizon. 
The  darkness,  which  is  soon  to  throw  the  icy  splen- 
dours into  a  hopeless,  sooty  gloom,  is  gathering  its 
hellish  fabric  to  cover  the  laughing  glory  of  day. 
The  sunless  winter  of  storm,  of  unimaginable  cold, 
of  heart- destroying  depression,  is  rapidly  advancing. 
We  are  hoping  to  continue  our  voyage  of  explora- 
tion as  long  as  possible,  and  when  the  darkness  and 
cold  become  too  great  we  expect  to  steal  away  and 
winter  in  more  congenial  latitudes.  (How  utterly 
we  failed  to  gain  freedom  from  the  icy  fetters  of  this 
heartless  Frost  King  of  the  night  is  shown  by  our 
imprisonment  later.) 

February  20,  8  a.  m. — We  have  steamed  south 
by  east,  since  midnight,  through  a  sea  free  of  drift- 
ice,  but  icebergs  are  in  great  numbers  on  all  sides. 
Over  the  port  gunwale,  about  two  miles  off,  there  is 
still  the  white  line  indicating  the  edge  of  the  main 
body  of  the  pack.  There  is  a  little  swell,  but  the  sea 
has  a  gray  and  cold  aspect.  There  is  almost 
no  wind  stirring  the  glassy  air.  The  tempera- 
ture has  fallen  to— 2°  C.  (28.4^  F.).  The  sky 
above  us  is  smoky,  with  leaden  streaks  here  and 
there.  To  the  south  a  narrow  strip  of  horizon  is 
clear,  and  above  this  there  are  a  few  divisions  with 
ragged  silvery  edges,  beyond  which  is  the  gladdening 
blue  of  the  unscreened  heavens,  which  is  so  rare 
here.  Nearly  everywhere  on  the  horizon  to  the 
south  there  is  reflected  the  glitter  of  the  ice-blink. 

177 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

The  narrow  sooty  bands,  however,  which  interrupt 
this  blink,  indicate  that  the  ice  is  separated  by  open 
lanes  of  water.  We  shall  try  these  lanes,  so  nicely 
mapped  on  the  sky,  for  our  benefit,  and  as  our  bow- 
sprit is  laid  for  one  due  south,  we  again  stir  our 
hopes  and  discouraged  spirits  to  fresh  ambitions  of 
further  discoveries.  ''  Shall  we  succeed,  or  will  the 
ice  seize  us  with  a  final  and  relentless  embrace?  "  A 
fog  soon  fell  over  the  scene,  but  we  continued  our 
renewed  efforts  to  push  poleward  with  increasing 
vigour. 

At  ten  o'clock  we  reached  a  point  where  the 
main  body  of  the  pack  again  refused  us  a  path. 
The  Belgica^  however,  will  not  be  discouraged. 
She  ploughs  on  between  the  heavy  masses  of  ice, 
to  some  open  lakes  beyond,  where  she  seems  to 
gain  fresh  courage,  and  then  rushes  upon  the  offend- 
ing fields  with  a  spirit  of  animation  altogether  in 
keeping  with  that  of  her  directors.  There  are  about 
us  great  numbers  of  white  and  gray  petrels  seeming 
to  urge  us  on.  The  fog  rises  and  falls  offering  a 
peep,  now  and  then,  into  the  white  world  to  which 
we  are  so  anxious  to  force  our  way.  Most  of  the 
men  are  standing  about  on  the  decks,  offering  words 
of  encouragement  to  the  bark  as  she  batters  and 
breaks  the  offending  floes  which  hinder  her  passage. 
A  few  men,  sitting  on  the  anchor  chains,  have  pre- 
monitions of  impending  danger  and  discuss  the 
prospects  of  an  antarctic  winter,  and  the  incidents  of 
starving  and  freezing,  cast  adrift  on  the  ice.  While 
thus  making  our  way  energetically,  and  with  our 
hopes  raised  to  the  highest  pitch  of  anticipation,  some 

178 


ANTARCTIC   NIGHT 

mystic  force  brought  the  ice  together,  and  early  in 
the  afternoon  we  found  ourselves  again  beset  — 
powerless  either  to  advance  or  retreat. 

Again,  disappointed  and  discouraged,  we  tried  to 
turn  the  bark  in  an  effort  to  retrace  our  track.  The 
entire  afternoon  was  devoted  to  this  effort,  but  we 
were  held  with  fetters  not  easily  broken.  This 
battle  with  the  ice  has  been  the  worst  to  the  pres- 
ent. We  go  full  speed  ahead,  then  full  speed  astern. 
Each  change  in  direction  is  followed  by  crash  after 
crash,  until  it  seems  that  every  part  of  the  good 
ship  has  been  loosened.  Either  the  ice  or  the  Bel- 
gica  must  go  to  pieces.  After  many  hours  of  hard 
struggling  the  Belgica  obtains  sufficient  room  to 
give  her  a  good  headway,  and  then  she  rushes 
against  and  upon  the  ice  in  a  manner  to  make  her 
mistress  of  the  situation.  Ploughing,  and  jamming, 
and  crushing  her  way  through  the  huge  masses  of 
ice,  she  scraped  off  her  new  dress  of  paint,  and  tore 
away  many  pieces  of  her  outer  sheathing.  Her 
path  was  marked  by  specks  of  paint  and  pieces  of 
wood,  the  result  of  scratches  and  bruises,  but  as  she 
fought  her  way  again  out  into  the  open  sweep  of  the 
new  antarctic  sea  she  had  the  appearance,  and  we 
had  for  her  the  admiration,  of  a  battleship  after  a 
destructive  engagement. 

While  the  Belgica  was  engaged  battering  the  ice, 
Racovitza,  Tollefsen,  and  myself,  started  out  over  the 
ice  to  study  the  life  and  to  secure  zoological  speci- 
mens, as  well  as  photographs.  We  saw  numbers  of 
penguins,  some  giant  petrels,  and  a  few  crab-eating, 
or  white  antarctic  seals ;  but  the  surprise  of  the  day 

179 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

was  a  lone  seal  with  a  thick  neck  and  a  big  head,  alto- 
gether different  from  any  variety  which  we  had  seen 
before.  We  at  once  recognised  it  as  the  ''  new 
seal "  claimed  to  have  been  discovered  by  Borchgre- 
vink,  in  1894.  While  it  agreed  in  every  particular 
with  the  descriptions  of  the  adventurous  Norwegian 
sailor,  the  animal  proved,  upon  minute  examination, 
to  be  a  yearling  of  the  true  sea-leopards.  Borch- 
grevink's  discovery  then,  in  this  case  as  in  another, 
which  will  be  cited  later,  is  a  myth,  for  the  sea- 
leopard  has  been  known  for  about  one  hundred  years. 
February  21,  10  a.m.  —  During  the  night  we 
skirted  the  pack,  steaming  slowly  westward.  Now 
we  are  steaming  south-west  by  the  compass,  whose 
variation  is  here  39°  west.  The  prow  is  cutting 
clear,  blue  waters  entirely  free  of  ice.  Along  the 
horizon,  from  the  north  to  the  south-west,  there  is 
a  marked  ice  blink.  In  the  south-east,  just  over 
the  horizon  barely  visible,  is  the  edge  of  the  pack. 
There  are  one  hundred  and  ten  icebergs  visible  from 
the  mast  head ;  of  this  number  ten  are  true  table- 
topped  masses  ranging,  in  height,  from  one  hundred 
to  two  hundred  and  fifty  feet,  and  in  length  from  a 
thousand  feet  to  one  mile.  All  of  the  others  were 
of  the  usual  arctic  type,  with  fantastic  towers  of 
every  conceivable  shape.  Some  five  or  six  had  the 
form  of  an  easy  chair,  others  that  of  a  giant  couch, 
still  others  assumed  the  forms  of  human  faces. 
Some  of  the  forms  were  particularly  striking  and 
needed  no  explanation  ;  but  at  nearly  every  hour  of 
the  day  some  one  went  into  raptures  about  a  fetch- 
ing figure,   which  generally  required  a  vivid,    and 

180 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

often  a  poetic   imagination  with    a  liberal   artistic 
license. 

It  is  curious  that  the  eye  generally  sees  what  the 
mind  intends  to  picture.  An  illustration  of  this 
point  is  the  different  forms  which  we  ascribe  to  these 
icebergs.  The  Captain  points  to  a  berg,  not  par- 
ticularly attractive  to  anyone,  but  he  insists  in 
describing  upon  it  the  face  and  the  form  of  a  beau- 
tiful woman,  chiseled  in  walls  of  alabaster.  We 
look,  and  try  to  be  interested  while  Lecointe  grows 
enthusiastic,  but  we  see  only  dead  white  cliffs. 
There  are  some  irregularities,  a  few  delicate  blue 
lines,  some  suggestive  hummocks,  and  various  dark 
cavities ;  but  these  we  see  in  every  berg,  and  with 
our  different  mental  attitudes  we  fail  to  recognise 
the  ascribed  topography  of  a  human  figure.  We 
dare  not,  however,  admit  our  ignorance,  for  such  a 
lack  of  sympathetic  support, 'especially  on  a  senti- 
mental subject,  would  be  equal  to  a  challenge  for  a 
duel  on  the  Belgica.  The  naturalist  comes  along 
next,  he  is  always  realistic,  sometimes  poetical,  but 
never  sentimental.  Upon  a  small  tabular  berg  there 
is  a  shapeless  mass  of  ice-blocks,  and  these  blocks 
are  so  piled  that  one  cannot  help  but  notice 
them.  To  me  the  thing  seemed  like  a  marble  statue 
of  England's  Prime  Minister,  Salisbury,  raised  upon 
a  huge,  rounded  block  of  granite.  I  heard  Arc- 
towski  suggest  the  Egyptian  Sphinx,  but  Racovitza 
insisted  upon  the  likeness  of  a  polar  bear  and 
some  one  shouted,  '*  It  moves  !  "  At  once  the  picture 
became  real,  and  the  sailors  refused  to  believe  that  it 
was  not  a  living  bear.     Racovitza's  imagination  was 

i8i 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

accepted  by  all,  for  to  doubt  him  was  to  have  hu- 
morous abuse  and  sarcastic  caricatures  heaped  upon 
us  for  weeks.  There  was,  however,  one  man  with  a 
glass.  He  looked  intently  for  an  hour  at  the  thing 
without  saying  much.  This  was  Michotte,  the  cook. 
After  we  had  all  finished  our  discussions,  and  had  come 
to  a  general  agreement  about  the  bear,  he  shattered 
our  allegory  with  a  little  giggle  and  followed  it  by  the 
announcement  that  it  was  all  a  mistake  ;  — "  to  me  it 
looks  like  a  pot  of  boiling  soup."  Next  to  the  Cap- 
tain the  cook  is  the  most  important  personage  on 
the  ship ;  there  are  short  instances  when  he  even 
rises  above  the  Captain.  It  was  so  in  this  case. 
Michotte  canvassed  the  observers  one  by  one,  gave 
them  his  glasses  and  pointed  out  the  rounded  base 
of  the  huge  polished  kettle,  and  then  he  made  steam 
out  of  our  beautiful  statuary  in  the  centre.  Dobro- 
wolsky  suggested  that  pots  were  generally  black, 
but  Koren,  the  cook's  assistant,  took  a  look  at  the 
thing  and  said,  ''That's  just  like  our  pots,  they  are 
always  clean  and  white  and  polished."  I  noticed 
that  everybody,  even  Racovitza,  gave  a  hearty 
assent.  We  dared  not  do  otherwise,  for  it  meant 
no  soup  to-morrow,  and  Kydbolla  every  day.  We 
can  afford  to  dispute  with  the  naturalist  somewhat, 
we  can  even  doubt  the  Captain's  eyesight,  but  we 
cannot  dream  of  endangering  the  good-will  of 
Michotte, —  it  is,  then,  a  pot  of  boiling  soup,  and  I 
think  Koren  added  it  was  ''hot  stuff;" — even  this 
is  granted. 

lo  p.  M. — It    is    still   light    enough   to   write   on 
deck,  but  there  is  a  little  wind  coming  out  of  the 

182 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

south  which  makes  ungloved  fingers  stiff.  The 
temperature  is  — 4°  C.  (24.8°  F.).  At  two  o'clock  this 
afternoon  we  again  came  to  a  region  of  pack-ice 
which  loved  us  too  well.  It  closed  about  and 
squeezed  our  sides  with  such  force  that  we  were 
powerless  to  resist.  We  have  remained  here  since, 
and  shall  remain  for  the  night.  The  engine  fires 
have  been  burned  down,  but  Gerlache  says  he  will 
make  another  attempt  to  push  southward  to-morrow. 
There  has  been  considerable  animal  life  about  us 
to-day.  In  the  air  we  have  seen  the  usual  songless 
and  noiseless  birds,  the  giant  and  the  white  petrels. 
Finback  whales  have  been  spouting  and  showing 
their  huge  blue  backs  in  the  open  triangles  of  water. 
Seals  have  been  stealing  about  the  ship  under  the 
water,  curiously  examining  the  hull  of  the  bark  with- 
out coming  to  the  surface  to  vent  their  curiosity  by 
a  look  upon  us.  The  speck  of  blackness  which  the 
Belgica  makes  in  their  world  of  perennial  whiteness 
must  be  of  rare  interest  to  these  semi-human  sub- 
aqueous denizens.  On  the  ice  we  have  seen  a  few 
king  penguins,  uttering,  now  and  then,  a  weird  gha- 
a-ah.  They  were  always  alone,  generally  standing 
to  the  lee  of  hummocks  with  heads  bowed,  looking 
as  solemn  and  dignified  as  deacons  at  a  love  feast. 
Roaming  about  on  the  floes  we  see  the  ever-restless 
little  black-billed,  yellow-footed  pack  penguins.  This 
flightless  bird  is  gregarious  and  sociable,  and  must 
have  companions  to  be  happy.  It  congregates  in 
groups,  numbering  from  six  to  thirty,  and  these 
gatherings  are  the  only  cheerful  signs  of  life  in  the 
great  silent  circle  around  the  south  pole. 

183 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

The  air  is  cold  and  bracing,  bringing  with  it 
a  wine  of  action  which  is  opposed  to  fatigue.  With 
it  we  seem  to  require  Httle  sleep,  keeping  at  hard 
physical  and  mental  work  from  early  morning  till 
midnight.  With  the  much  lower  temperature  the 
air  is  now  getting  glassy,  the  fog  is  dispersing,  and 
the  sky  shows  signs  of  clearing,  with  considerable 
colour.  Mirages  were  seen  to-night  for  the  first  time. 
All  along  the  horizon,  from  the  north-east  to  the 
south-east,  there  are  elongated,  raised  and  distorted 
masses  of  ice,  with  their  bases  resting  upon  the 
water.  There  seem  to  be  no  inverted  images,  as 
in  the  arctic  regions. 

The  sun  set  in  the  south-south-west  to-night  at 
7:30.  We  rarely  have  a  sky  at  the  edge  of  the  pack 
permitting  a  view  of  this  phenomenon,  but  we  can 
notice  that  the  days  are  rapidly  getting  shorter,  and 
the  light  is  progressively  fading.  Only  two  weeks  ago 
we  could  take  instantaneous  photographs  until  ten 
o'clock,  but  now,  a  picture  taken  at  eight  is  very 
feeble.  With  the  sun  almost  perpetually  screened 
by  a  black  icy  mist  the  sky  has  remained  cheerless 
and  depressing,  but  southerly  winds  seem  to  brush 
aside  this  gloomy  curtain.  Along  the  southern  sky 
to-night  there  is  a  streak  of  gold,  fringed  with 
orange  and  a  suggestion  of  carmine.  At  best,  how- 
ever, colours  are  sparingly  distributed  along  the 
outer  fringe  of  this  antarctic  pack.  We  have  seen 
the  stars  and  the  moon  but  once  since  entering  the 
Pacific,  and,  to  the  present,  there  have  been  no 
auroras  visible. 

February  22,  8  a.m.  —  During  the  night  we  have 

184 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

rested  easily  in  a  triangular  space  of  water,  which 
was  surrounded  by  large  pans  of  ice.  At  about 
midnight  a  half  gale  of  wind  came  out  of  the 
south-south-east  and  rushed  through  the  masts  with 
a  bitter  howl,  but  the  sea  remained  quiet,  and  in  our 
position  we  rested  as  peacefully  as  if  in  a  sheltered 
harbour.  This  changed  direction  and  augmented 
force  of  the  wind  separated  the  pack  and  sent  it  drift- 
ing northerly  over  the  boundless  sea.  Taking 
advantage  of  this  favourable  loosening  of  the  grip 
upon  us,  we  got  up  steam  at  six  a.  m.  and  started  in  a 
renewed  effort  to  push  southward.  The  navigation, 
at  best,  is  extremely  difficult.  We  go  ahead  squeez- 
ing through  breaks  in  the  ice  until  our  headway  is 
barred  by  a  floe,  then  we  go  astern  to  give  the  ship 
time  for  a  new  onslaught.  In  this  way  we  batter 
and  ram  the  ice  until  it  seems  as  though  every 
timber  must  break;  but  excepting  the  bruising, 
scraping,  and  polishing  of  her  sides,  the  Belgica 
receives  no  hurts.  She  complains  and  groans  and 
cracks  and  shivers,  but  she  goes  on  cutting  great 
pans  of  ice  '^v^  feet  thick,  and  pushing  aside  floes 
two  hundred  feet  in  diameter.  She  is  ploughing  the 
ice-littered  sea  like  something  animate. 

To  the  south  there  is  a  water-sky  coaxing  us  on 
to  the  frozen  mystery  beyond.  Perhaps  this  is  a 
temptation  of  the  manless  antarctic  to  ensnare  and 
keep  us  for  the  winter ;  perhaps  it  is  to  reveal  to  us  new 
lands  and  new  glories  in  the  unknown  white  expanse. 
But  whatever  our  reward,  or  our  punishment,  for  this 
forced  intrusion,  the  task  is  difficult.  There  are 
about  us  to-day  many  signs  of  land,  and  this  also 

185 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

urges  us  on  in  our  hopeless  effort  to  navigate  the 
seemingly  endless  sea  of  ice. 

Toward  the  south-east  there  are  yellow  land  clouds, 
which  slide  over  each  other  as  though  their  mission 
was  to  hide  the  outline  of  some  heaven-guarded  coast 
from  human  gaze.  Above  these  low-hanging  clouds 
there  are  black  bands  of  sky,  indicating  open  lanes 
of  water  near  what  promises  to  be  land.  The  ice, 
too,  is  what  is  usually  termed  bay- ice,  with  freshly 
broken  edges,  with  icicles  hanging  from  some  points, 
and  having  upon  the  surface  only  small  hummocks. 
There  are  no  signs  of  pressure  and  the  whole  scene 
is  weighted  down  with  about  twenty  inches  of  soft 
snow.  The  animal  life  also  indicates  an  approach  to 
land.  We  have  about  us  large  numbers  of  ossifrages 
and  magalestris,  which  are  supposed  to  keep  land 
within  easy  reach.  The  penguins  and  seals  seen  to- 
day are  indicative  of  a  near  land  mass ;  while  the 
meteorologist  vows  that  the  cold  dry  wind  coming 
from  the  south-south-east  rolls  off  from  some  conti- 
nental ice-capped  country.  Even  the  engineer  comes 
forward  with  a  sign.  He  has  a  keen  nose,  and  says 
he  smells  the  mossy  rocks.  But  where  is  this  mys- 
terious land  ?  We  are  not  within  a  thousand  miles 
of  any  known  land.  Shall  we  discover  this  land,  or 
is  it  an  illusion  ?  (We  afterwards  saw  many  similar 
signs  of  land,  but  all  proved  deceptive.  We  saw  no 
real  land,  except  what  came  from  the  sea-bottom, 
from  the  time  we  got  the  last  glimpse  of  Alexander 
Islands  until  we  returned  to  Tierra  del  Fuego  thirteen 
months  later.) 

Early  in  the  afternoon  our  hopes  were  shattered. 

i86 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

We  again  reached  a  zone,  as  we  so  often  had,  farther 
east,  where  it  was  impossible  to  pass  between  the 
sheets  of  heavy  ice.  Here  we  rested  for  the  bal- 
ance of  the  afternoon  and  the  night.  We  continued 
to  search  the  horizon  for  further  signs  of  the  prom- 
ised land,  but  most  of  the  indications  disappeared 
during  our  stay.  The  engine  fires  were  burnt  down. 
Everything  about  the  Belgica  is  non- restful.  There 
is  little  wind ;  the  temperature  remains  low  — • 
7.5°  C.  ( — 18.5°  F.)  An  easy  swell  keeps  the  ice  in 
a  constant  groan,  and  penguins  send  out  their  social 
calls.  We  are  now  accustomed  to  all  this  noise. 
Indeed,  when  tired  and  weary,  as  we  are  at  present 
from  long-continued  anxiety,  the  groans  of  the  ice 
and  the  cries  of  the  penguins  serve  only  to  impress 
us  with  the  awful  solitude  and  the  uninterrupted 
pearly  monotony  of  the  antarctic. 

A  beautiful  sunset  to-night  has  served  to  re- 
awaken our  interest  in  this  world  of  white  sameness. 
Throughout  the  day  the  sky  has  been  a  cheerless 
gray  frorri  the  zenith  to  a  few  degrees  from  the 
horizon.  Low  down  there  have  been  changes,  now 
an  ice-blink,  now  a  water- sky,  and  again  a  series  of 
seeming  land  clouds.  The  little  play  and  change 
in  colour,  which  has  been  evident  for  brief  periods, 
is  limited  to  a  narrow  strip  under  and  over  the 
cloud-hidden  sun  in  the  west  and  south.  The  com- 
parative rarity  of  brilliant  sunbursts  and  sunsets,  in 
the  smoky  skies  at  the  edge  of  the  pack,  has  made 
the  phenomenon  to-night  a  real  joy.  At  seven  o  'clock 
the  long  stratus  clouds  in  the  south-south-west, 
which  were  slaty  in  colour,  became  fringed  with  a 

187 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

touch  of  luminous  gold.  This  increased  gradually 
until  the  entire  body  of  the  clouds  was  gilded ;  then 
the  sun,  a  great  yellow  ball  of  dull  orange,  sank 
under  the  creamy  sheets  of  waving  snows.  The 
great  fiery  ball  was  only  fifty  seconds  in  passing 
from  view,  but  in  this  time  its  face  changed  into  at 
least  ten  distortions.  There  is  a  weird  sadness 
in  these  faces  :  an  expression  which  is  singularly 
appropriate,  because  we  know  the  good  old  luminary 
is  quickly  leaving  us  to  brighten  the  top  of  the  globe. 
She  seems  to  feel  it,  for  her  face  is  like  that  of  a 
dying  mother  sorry  to  leave  her  children  alone  in  a 
world  of  hazard.  The  final  parting,  however,  was 
more  prolonged  and  more  glorious  than  the  actual 
presence.  Soon  the  upper  stratus  of  low  clouds 
were  showered  with  a  scarlet  light,  which  remained 
without  apparent  change  for  thirty  minutes.  Below 
and  above  this  were  narrow  belts  of  bright  and 
glistening  silvery  blue,  while  the  ice  was  all  aglow 
under  a  veil  of  pale  magenta.  Then  followed  a 
long  purple  twilight,  which,  in  itself,  is  full  of 
delightful  charm.  It  is  all  an  unimaginable  dream. 
February  23. — We  are  still  firmly  fixed  by  the 
compact  sea  of  ice  about  us.  New  ice  formed  on 
every  open  space  last  night.  Winter  is  coming  over 
us  quickly,  and  the  season  for  navigating  these  un- 
known seas  is  now  past.  The  rapidity  with  which 
the  new  ice  forms,  the  increasing  cold,  and  the  fading 
light  of  the  sun  all  prove  this,  but  the  Commandant 
is  hoping  against  hope  to  push  still  farther  into  the 
mystic  gloom  of  the  south.  Throughout  the  night 
the  sky  was  a  clear,  pale  purple  blue,  while  stars  of  the 

188 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

first  and  second  magnitude  were  struggling  to  display 
their  icy  glitter.  The  Captain  obtained  an  observa 
tion  and  was  able  to  find  our  position  by  fixing  a 
planet  and  a  star.  Latitude  69°  46'  30'^  longitude 
81°  59'.  It  is  curious  how  a  little  thing  like  the 
definite  knowledge  of  our  position  raises  the  hopes 
and  anticipations  of  everybody  on  board.  Though 
such  a  knowledge  is  a  mere  play  of  figures,  it  as- 
sures us  that  we  are  at  least  on  a  fixed  point  upon 
the  unknown  under  surface  of  the  globe.  We  make 
calculations  accordingly ;  some  plan  work  and  pleas- 
ure for  the  return  to  the  world  of  living,  and  others 
lay  down  a  system  of  effort  for  exploration  of  the 
new  regions  to  which  we  expect  to  penetrate,  and 
surely  all  are  elated  at  the  prospect  of  some  other 
view  except  the  inhospitable  whiteness,  at  present 
on  every  side  of  our  position. 

At  noon  we  made  a  deep  sea  sounding,  with  a 
long  series  of  temperatures  at  various  depths.  We 
lowered  five  hundred  and  sixty  metres  of  wire,  and 
brought  up  a  cup  of  blue  clay.  The  temperature  at 
the  surface  was  at  the  freezing  point,  and  at  the  bot- 
tom slightly  warmer.  We  have  made  various  ex- 
cursions to  obtain  photos  of  the  ice  and  the  life,  and 
to  study  the  physical  laws  which  govern  the  con- 
struction and  destruction  of  the  sea-ice.  The  pans 
are  closely  packed,  but  in  some  places  there  are 
soft  buffers  of  pulverised  ice  and  snow,  arid  these 
are  dangerous  to  the  traveler.  Gerlache  stepped  on 
such  a  place  and  promptly  sank  into  the  icy  water 
beneath.  Fortunately  I  saw  him  before  he  sank  too 
far,  and  jerked  him  out  by  the  coat  collar.     I  tore 

189 


THROUGH  THE  FI-RST 

his  collar,  and  disturbed  his  buttons,  but  I  had  the 
satisfaction  of  keeping  him  from  a  complete  bath  at 
a  temperature  six  degrees  below  zero. 

The  sunset  is  again  superbly  beautiful  to-night. 
All  day  we  have  remained  firmly  held  by  the  ice. 
The  sky  has  been  of  a  pale,  wintry  blue  with  alto- 
stratus  and  fracto- stratus  clouds  of  a  leaden  and  steel- 
gray  colour.  In  the  north-west  and  the  north-east 
there  is  a  water-sky,  but  the  hopeless  ice-blink  is 
in  every  other  direction.  A  dazzling  whiteness  has 
made  the  pack  glitter  to  such  an  extent  that  it  has 
become  painful  to  walk  about  without  smoked 
glasses,  but  to-night  there  is  a  restful  lilac  over  the 
white  glitter,  which  is  a  charming  relief  from  the  in- 
tense brilliancy  of  the  day.  As  the  sun  descended 
into  the  invisible  mist  of  ice- crystals,  which  always 
hangs  over  the  pack,  it  poured  out  a  wealth  of 
golden  light  over  the  clouds  and  onto  the  pack. 
For  a  very  brief  period  the  clouds  had  the  appear- 
ance of  streams  of  hot  metal,  and  the  projecting 
snows  were  aglow  like  mounds  of  fire.  As  the 
sun  sank  from  view  a  great  bunch  of  cumulus 
clouds,  in  the  south,  suddenly  lit  up  with  a  brilliant 
rose  light.  The  yellow  then  vanished  and  the  rose 
was  thrown  on  the  snows.  The  rose  later  faded 
into  the  purple  of  twilight,  which  for  several  hours 
gave  a  steady  glow  of  lilac  to  the  pack. 

We  did  not  retire  until  late  to-night.  There  is 
something  about  our  present  position  which  suggests 
many  premonitions.  For  forty-five  hours  we  have 
not  consciously  moved,  and  the  ice  holds  us  with 
a  grip  which   promises   us  no    relief  for   forty-five 

190 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

weeks.  There  is  a  cheer  and  a  new  joy  in  the  curious 
colour  effect  of  the  coming  night,  and  this  is  about 
the  only  encouragement  in  our  present  prospects. 
We  have  persistently  tried,  to-day  and  to-night,  to 
steam  northward  and  southward,  and  eastward  and 
westward,  but  the  Belgica  refuses  to  mind  the  helm, 
while  the  ice  disputes  our  right  of  way.  The  fact 
is  forced  more  and  more  upon  us  that  we  are  fixed 
for  the  winter,  and  destined  to  pass  through  the  first 
long  antarctic  night.  Gerlache  has  all  along  mani- 
fested an  inclination  for  wintering  in  the  pack,  but 
every  officer  has  been  so  much  opposed  to  this  that 
the  Commandant  did  not  openly  betray  his  dis- 
position. To-night  Gerlache  is  sounding  the  senti- 
ments of  all  hands,  upon  their  willingness  to  winter  in 
the  ice.  Everybody  is  opposed  to  it,  but  if  it  must 
be,  they  are  inclined  to  submit  gracefully  to  the  un- 
questionable fate. 

The  main  objections  offered  to  our  voluntary 
stay  in  the  pack  are  the  ignorance  of  the  home  au- 
thorities of  our  whereabouts,  and  the  certain  death 
which  would  follow  the  loss  of  the  Belgica  by  press- 
ure, or  by  other  accidents.  If  an  expedition  has 
planned  to  winter  in  the  unknown  antarctic  pack 
she  should  have  two  vessels,  so  that  if  one  is  crushed 
another  might  remain  to  bring  home  her  precious 
cargo  of  human  life,  and  the  records  of  the  equally 
precious  work.  If  this  is  not  the  fortune  of  an  ex- 
pedition, there  should,  at  least,  be  left  at  home  a 
clear  outline  of  the  prospective  route.  It  is  unneces- 
sarily hazardous  to  trust  to  the  pitfalls  and  certain 
misfortunes  of  polar  work  without  such  safeguards. 

191 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

In  our  case  no  one  knows  of  our  whereabouts.  If  our 
vessel  should  be  lost,  no  relief  could  possibly  reach  us, 
because  it  is  not  definitely  known  where  we  may  be 
found.  Death  by  freezing  and  starvation  would  be 
our  lot  it  our  trusty  ship  were  disabled,  and  such  a 
possibility  must  always  remain  in  view,  in  a  battle 
against  the  ponderous  polar-ice.  With  this  prospect 
before  us  we  do  not  take  kindly  to  a  voluntary  berth 
among  the  ever  restless  floes  during  the  many  weeks 
of  sure  darkness  and  unknowable  cold. 

February  24. — A  sharp  southerly  wind  has  been 
blowing  all  night.  The  sky  is  again  gray  and  cheer- 
less and  full  of  promise  for  an  early  tempest.  Sailors 
at  sea  rarely  pray  for  a  tempest,  but  this  is  the 
only  hope  we  now  have  of  securing  freedom  from 
the  ice.  We  are  longing  for  a  gale  of  wind. 
We  are  not  particular  from  what  direction,  anything 
will  do  so  long  as  it  breaks  the  ice  and  gives  us  a 
little  room.  With  this  promise  before  us,  and  while 
still  beset,  the  Commandant  comes  forward  with  the 
first  of  a  long  series  of  new  programmes.  We  are 
to  gain  the  open  sea  northward,  as  quickly  as 
possible,  from  here  make  a  line  of  soundings  from 
the  edge  of  the  pack  northward,  and  another  line 
parallel  to  the  western  shores  of  Grahamland,  then 
go  to  Yankee  Harbour,  Deception  Island,  and  return 
to  Belgica  Strait  for  a  short  period.  As  the  season 
for  ice  exploration  ceases  we  are  to  go  to  Ushuaia, 
where  Racovitza  and  I  are  to  be  left  for  the  winter 
to  make  zoological  and  anthropological  studies  of  the 
Fuegian  life,  while  the  Belgica  returns  to  Buenos 
Aires  to  winter.  Next  season  we  are  to  go  south  of 
Australia  to  Victorialand. 

192 


The  Sailor's  Recreation. 


Bow  of  the  Belgica  After  a  Collision  with  an  Iceberg. 


CHAPTER   XIV 

OVER  UNKNOWN  WATERS  INTO  THE 
FROZEN  SEA 

February  25.  —  The  expected  storm  has  not  struck 
us,  but  the  ice  has  separated  a  Httle  and  offers  us  a 
chance  to  push  westerly.  We  are  passing  through 
a  loose  pack  with  much  new  ice,  which  offers  but 
little  resistance  to  the  vessel.  On  the  ice  there  are 
many  groups  of  small  penguins,  and  we  have  also 
seen  several  royal  penguins.  Many  snowy  petrels 
follow  in  the  wake  of  the  ship,  but  they  are  silent 
companions,  never  uttering  a  song  or  a  cry  of  delight 
or  fear,  always  gliding  lightly  in  the  air  and  drop- 
ping easily  into  the  water  to  seek  the  pelagic  fish, 
which  is  their  food.  There  is  no  wind  to-day.  The 
temperature  is  again  higher  — 3.5^  C.  (25.7°  F.),  and 
the  sky  is  lined  with  stratus  and  alto-stratus  clouds 
of  the  usual  steel  gray.  Our  position  at  noon  was 
latitude  69  °  17',  longitude  82  ^  24'. 

From  here  we  again  pushed  out  into  the  open  sea 
northward,  and  following  closely  the  edge  of  the 
pack  westerly,  we  continued  our  cheerless  voyage 
still  in  search  of  a  promising  bay  or  open  lead  which 
might  permit  us  to  push  to  a  higher  latitude.  At 
noon  on  the  twenty-seventh  our  position  was  69° 

193 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

26 ',  longitude  86  °  46 '.  After  the  ensnaring  pow- 
ers of  the  pack-ice,  which  we  have  learned  in  the  past 
few  weeks,  we  were  not  eager  to  put  ourselves 
again  in  a  position  to  become  entangled.  For  such 
an  entanglement  would  now  mean  confinement.  The 
season  for  a  campaign  to  the  far  south  is  past.  The 
nights  are  becoming  long  and  black,  and  new  ice  is 
forming  on  every  side;  but  in  spite  of  these  forbidding 
signs  M.  de  Gerlache  believes  it  incumbent  upon 
himself  to  abandon  the  new  programme,  and  push 
heedlessly  into  the  freezing  waters  to  make  as  strong 
an  effort  as  possible  to  beat  the  "  farthest  south  "  of 
other  explorers. 

The  entire  scientific  staff  are  opposed  to  this 
effort,  because  it  is  thought  too  late  in  the  season. 
No  direct  opposition,  however,  was  offered  when  the 
Belgica  was  again  headed  southward.  She  was 
forced  into  the  pack  and  out  again,  time  after  time, 
making  after  each  rebuff  a  new  effort  farther  west- 
ward. On  February  twenty-eighth  we  were  forced 
to  take  to  the  ice  that  the  ship  might  better  ride  out 
a  howling  storm. 

I  can  imagine  nothing  more  despairing  than  a 
storm  on  the  edge  of  the  pack.  At  best  it  is  a  cold, 
dull,  and  gloomy  region,  with  a  high  humidity  and 
constant  drizzly  fogs.  Clear  weather  is  here  an 
exception.  Storm  with  rain,  sleet,  and  snow,  is  the 
normal  weather  condition  throughout  the  entire  year. 
During  the  day  of  the  twenty-eighth  we  are  unable 
to  get  a  glimpse  of  the  sun,  and  are  in  consequence 
in  doubt  as  to  our  actual  position.  There  is  some- 
thing about  the  sea  and  sky  which  promises  a  night 

194 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

of  unusual  terrors.  The  wind  comes  in  a  steady  tor- 
rent from  the  east,  and  with  it  come  alternate  squalls 
of  rain,  sleet,  and  snow.  Hour  after  hour  it  blew 
harder,  and  before  night  it  brought  with  it  a  heavy- 
sea  studded  with  icebergs  —  moving  mountains  of 
blackness.  The  Belgica  runs  westerly  before  it, 
almost  under  bare  poles,  and  edges  closer  and  closer 
toward  the  fragments  of  ice  to  the  south,  where  the 
sea  is  easier.  The  sky  to  the  north  and  east  is 
smoky  and  wavy,  as  if  a  number  of  huge  fires  were 
there  sending  out  gusts  of  smoke,  and  on  the  southern 
sky  there  is  a  bright  pearly  zone.  This  is  an  ice- 
blink, a  reflection  of  the  ice  beyond  our  horizon  upon 
the  particles  of  watery  vapour  suspended  in  the  air. 
As  night  comes  upon  us  it  becomes  necessary  to 
choose  between  the  forbidding  blackness  of  the 
north  and  the  more  cheerful,  but  less  hospitable, 
whiteness  of  the  south.  With  icebergs  on  every 
side,  always  in  our  course,  coming  as  suddenly  out 
of  the  thickening  darkness  as  if  dropped  from  the 
skies,  it  is  not  wise,  or  prudent,  either  to  move  out  of, 
or  to  rest  in,  our  position.  To  be  more  friendly 
with  the  ice,  or  to  rid  ourselves  entirely  of  its  com- 
panionship, is  plainly  our  duty. 

We  have  decided  to  seek  the  harbouring  influence 
of  the  pack,  as  an  experiment,  to  ride  out  the 
increasing  fury  of  the  tempest.  The  Belgica  is 
headed  southward,  and  quickly  plows  through  the 
trembling  icy  seas.  But  the  noise  and  commotion 
which  come  to  a  climax  every  time  she  rises  to  the 
crest  of  a  great  swell,  are  terrible.  The  wind  beats 
through  the  rigging  like  the  blasts  out  of  a  blow- 

195 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

pipe,  the  quivering  masts  sweep  the  sky  with  the 
regularity  of  a  pendulum,  and  the  entire  ship  is 
covered  with  a  sheet  of  ice.  As  the  eye  drops  over 
the  side  of  the  ship  the  sea  glitters  with  the  bright- 
ness of  a  winter  sky.  This  brightness  of  the  sea, 
with  the  sooty  blackness  of  the  heavens  above  it, 
formed  a  weird  contrast,  never  to  be  forgotten. 
Here  and  there  are  sparkling,  semi-luminous  pieces 
of  ice  which  spring  from  the  darkness  with  meteoric 
swiftness,  and  are  again  as  quickly  lost  in  the 
gathering  blackness  behind  us.  These  fragments 
increase  in  number  and  in  size  as  we  press  poleward  ; 
but  the  Belgica  strikes  and  pushes  them  aside  as 
easily  as  a  broom  removes  dust. 

After  a  short  but  very  exciting  time,  the  pieces  of 
ice  become  more  numerous  and  of  larger  dimen- 
sions, and  the  bergs  are  so  closely  grouped  that 
further  progress  seems  impossible.  The  sea  rolls 
more  and  more,  in  long  easy  swells,  as  we  pass 
through  the  ice.  This  eases  the  ship  and  makes 
matters  more  comfortable  to  the  sufferers  of  sea- 
sickness. I  must  hasten  to  confess  that  about  one- 
half  of  us  are  thus  afflicted  at  this  time.  Still,  we 
try  to  be  cheerful.  I  cannot  imagine  a  scene 
more  despairing,  though,  than  the  Belgica  as  she 
pushes  into  the  pack  during  this  dark  night.  The 
noise  is  maddening.  Every  swell  that  drives  against 
the  ship  brings  with  it  tons  of  ice,  which  is  thrown 
against  her  ribs  with  a  thundering  crash.  The  wind 
howls  as  it  rushes  past  us,  and  comes  with  a  force 
which  makes  us  grasp  the  rails  to  keep  from  being 
thrown  into  the  churning  seas.     The  good  old  ship 

196 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

keeps  up  a  constant  scream  of  complaints  as  she 
strikes  piece  after  piece  of  the  masses  of  ice.  Occa- 
sionally we  try  to  talk,  but  the  deafening  noises  of 
the  storm,  the  squeaking  strains  of  the  ship,  and 
the  thumping  of  the  ice  makes  every  effort  at  speech 
inaudible.  With  our  stomachs  dissatisfied,  and  our 
minds  raised  to  a  fever-heat  of  excitement,  and 
with  the  prospect  of  striking  an  iceberg  at  any 
moment  and  sinking  to  the  bottom  of  the  sea,  we 
were,  to  say  the  least,  uncomfortable.  When  we 
had  sufficiently  entered  into  the  body  of  the  pack, 
and  were  snugly  surrounded  by  closely-packed  ice- 
floes, the  sea  subsided,  and  here  the  overworked 
ship  rested  for  the  night. 

In  the  morning  the  wind  changed  to  the  north- 
east, and  the  ice  separated,  leaving  long  open  leads 
of  water.  These  leads  offer  a  tempting  highway 
poleward,  and  Gerlache  was  not  long  in  deciding 
the  course.  With  a  fair  wind  pressing  the  sails  and 
with  steam,  we  push  southward.  The  navigation 
is  not  easy,  still  it  Is  less  difficult  at  this  time  than 
it  usually  is  in  an  antarctic  pack.  The  pans  are 
small  —  from  fifty  to  a  hundred  yards  in  diameter 
and  about  four  feet  thick.  They  are  separated  by 
quantities  of  pulverised  fragments  and  discs  of 
new  ice. 

Evenly  scattered  about  in  the  icy  expanse  are 
numerous  icebergs ;  usually  about  two  hundred  can 
be  counted  from  the  crow's-nest.  The  navigating 
offfcer  remains  at  the  masthead,  and  directs  the 
course  of  the  ship.  It  is  exciting  navigation.  The 
sky  in  the  north  is  lined  with  heavy,  lead-coloured 

197 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

clouds,  and  in  the  south  there  is  the  ever-bright  ice- 
bhnk.  Petrels  in  large  numbers  and  in  great  varieties 
hover  about  us,  as  if  to  ask  our  business  in  their 
domain.  Penguins  walk  about  on  the  ice,  uttering 
squeaky  noises  which  re-echo  from  berg  to  berg. 
Seals,  lazily  sunning  themselves,  come  to  the  edge  of 
the  floe  to  see  the  human  intruders.  Meanwhile  the 
ship  is  forced  on  in  a  wild  manner  into  the  ice.  Now 
she  is  running  upon  the  floes  to  break  them ;  again 
she  is  pushed  between  to  force  them  aside ;  but 
always  she  is  fighting  an  uneven  battle  against  the 
huge  masses  of  ice. 

After  two  days  of  this  ice-ramming,  we  found  that 
we  had  passed  through  about  ninety  miles  of  ice. 
We  are  now  made  to  realise  that  further  progress  is 
out  of  the  question.  The  ice  is  too  closely  packed  ;  and 
the  floes  here  are  heavier  ;  it  is  no  longer  practicable 
to  break  them,  or  push  them  aside.  We  are  so 
closely  hugged,  indeed,  that  movement  in  any  direc- 
tion is  impossible.  To  the  south  there  are  several 
lakes  visible  from  the  crow's-nest,  and  to  the  north- 
west there  are  also  spaces  of  open  water ;  but  after 
several  efforts  we  found  ourselves  unable  to  reach 
these.  On  the  fourth  of  March,  we  were  forced  to 
admit  our  inability  to  extricate  ourselves.  Our 
position  at  this  time  was  latitude  71  °  22 ^  longitude 
^4^  55'  —  about  three  hundred  miles  across  the  polar 
circle  and  about  1,100  from  the  geographical  pole. 
The  nearest  land  from  here  is  the  still  unknown 
group  of  Alexander  Islands,  about  three  hundred 
miles  eastward. 

We  are  now  again  firmly  stationed  in  a  moving  sea 

198 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

of  ice,  with  no  land  and  nothing  stable  on  the  horizon 
to  warn  us  of  our  movements.  Even  the  bergs, 
immense,  mountainous  masses,  though  apparently- 
fixed  and  immovable,  sail  as  we  do,  and  with  the 
same  apparent  ease.  The  astronomical  positions 
which  we  obtain  from  the  sun  and  from  the  stars 
indicate  to  us  that  we  drift  from  five  to  ten  miles  per 
day.  It  is  a  strange  sensation  to  know  that,  blown 
with  the  winds,  you  are  moving  rapidly  over  an 
unknown  sea,  and  yet  see  nothing  to  indicate  a 
movement.  We  pass  no  fixed  point,  and  can  see 
no  pieces  of  ice  stir  ;  everything  is  quiet.  The  en- 
tire horizon  drifts  with  us.  We  are  part  of  an  end- 
less frozen  sea.  Our  course  is  zigzag,  but  generally- 
west —  we  do  not  know  our  destination,  and  are 
always  conscious  that  we  are  the  only  human  beings 
to  be  found  in  the  entire  circum-polar  region  at  the 
bottom  of  the  globe.     It  is  a  curious  situation. 

March  5. — We  are  not  yet  prepared  to  resign  our- 
selves to  the  doubtful  destiny  of  an  unknowable  life 
in  the  restless  sea  of  ice.  We  still  hope  against 
hope  that  some  favourable  force  will  separate  the  ice 
and  permit  us  to  retreat.  Day  after  day  we  have 
tried  to  slide  into  some  promising  lead,  but  each 
effort  has  been  a  bitter  disappointment.  The 
weather  is  getting  colder  and  clearer.  The  pack 
and  the  sky  is  touched  with  new  charms  of  colour, 
and  the  life  is  full  of  inspiration.  Altogether,  the 
new  region  in  which  we  are  now  held  is  more  hope- 
ful and  less  monotonous  than  the  hundreds  of  miles 
of  desolate  icy  waste  through  which  we  have  passed. 
If  there  were  only  some  sort  of  relief  at  hand  for 

199 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

our  rescue,  In  case  the  ship  were  crushed,  we  would 
gladly  make  arrangements  to  pass  the  winter  and  the 
long  night  here.  If  our  vessel  should  be  destroyed  no 
one  at  home  could  possibly  know  the  location  of  our 
wanderings,  or  the  site  of  our  final  destruction,  and 
with  our  equipment  we  could  not  navigate  the  Cape 
Horn  seas  to  a  land  of  human  habitation.  Our 
faith  then  is  pinned  on  the  Belgica  ;  our  life  is  linked 
with  hers.  If  she  gains  freedom  our  liberty  is 
assured  ;  if  she  sinks,  we  shall  all  go  to  an  icy  grave. 

The  drift  of  conversation  for  several  days  has 
been  in  this  strain.  We  must  seek  to  divert 
thought  to  other  channels,  for  to  constantly  weigh 
the  prospects  of  death  and  misfortune  is  to  cast  the 
mind  into  a  melancholy  state,  from  which  it  is  diffi- 
cult to  arouse.  To  be  caught  in  the  ice  is,  after 
all,  the  usual  luck  of  polar  explorers.  It  is  a  life  of 
hardship,  of  monotony,  and  isolation,  full  of  certain 
dangers  and  uncertain  rewards.  For  success  there 
awaits  honorable  reward,  but  for  failure  there  is 
always  ready  a  storm  of  condemnation.  Our  suc- 
cess to  the  present  has  been  such  that  we  feel  proud 
of  our  work.  We  have  seized  the  records  to-day  and 
hope  to  elaborate  our  observations.  Everything 
which  we  have  done  will  require  careful  revising, 
and  this  brings  to  us  a  new  interest  and  a  brighter 
promise.  It  serves  to  divert  our  attention  from  the 
darker  side  of  our  future. 

Outside,  the  conditions,  for  the  past  few  days, 
have  been  more  cheerful,  though  there  is  every 
indication  of  our  being  permanently  fixed  here. 
The  nights  are  clearer  and  colder,  but  longer  and 

200 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

darker,  and  the  mercury  is  sinking  into  the  bulb. 
When  on  the  ship  we  brood  over,  and  complain 
of  our  miserable  lot,  but  when  we  stroll  over  the 
pack,  interview  the  groups  of  friendly  penguins, 
seek  the  company  of  the  gregarious  seals,  watch  the 
petrels  dive  into  the  icy  waters,  and  behold  the 
restfulness  and  contentment  of  this  life  within  its 
lonely  world  of  ice,  we  are  encouraged  to  stay  and 
experience  the  unknown  conditions.  There  is  now 
also  a  short  glory  in  the  sky  as  the  sun  departs,  and 
a  long  scene  of  joy  in  the  curious  colours  playing  on 
the  ice.  Every  day  we  see  new  charms  in  our  sur- 
roundings, which  makes  us  almost  hope  that  we  will 
stay  to  study  the  strange  effects.  The  warm  golden 
sunsets,  followed  by  a  long  soft  blue  twilight,  are 
now  a  daily  delight.  The  milky  white  of  the  old 
floes,  with  the  glitter '  of  its  miniature  mountains, 
is  under  a  thin  veil  of  evening  lilac.  The  new  ice, 
which  is  quite  as  extensive  as  the  old,  takes  the 
heavenly  colours  and  glows  in  lakes  of  gold,  while 
the  water  separating  these  is  a  most  delightful  azure. 
There  is  a  fascination  in  all  this ;  there  is  a  spirit  of 
contentment  in  the  white  silence,  which  hangs  over 
all. 

March  4. —  This  morning  a  bunch  of  sharp  rays 
of  light  pierced  my  port  as  the  sun  rose  over 
the  icy  stillness  of  the  north.  It  was  like  a  bundle 
of  frosted  silver  wire,  and  it  served  well  the  purpose 
of  an  eye-opener.  Sleep  here  is  an  inexpressible 
dream.  It  does  not  matter  how  difficult  the  work, 
or  how  great  the  anxiety,  we  sink  easily  into  pro- 
longed restful  slumbers.  We  awake  rested,  refreshed, 

201 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

and  full  of  youthful  vigour,  always  ready  for  the 
day's  task.  In  the  first  days  of  our  life  in  the  pack 
we  ate  when  we  were  hungry,  slept  when  we  were 
tired,  and  worked  when  the  spirit  moved  us.  (But 
later  we  were  never  hungry,  always  tired,  and  the 
spirit  never  moved  us.) 

This  morning  the  vessel  was  allowed  to  rest  quietly, 
though  there  was  considerable  water  about.  On 
board  we  are  adjusting  things  to  guard  against  the 
expected  heavy  seas,  which  we  anticipate  when  we 
leave  this  accursed  pack.  At  noon  we  took  a  sound- 
ing and  struck  bottom  at  530  metres.  Soon  after, 
steam  was  raised  and  we  began  to  ram  through  the 
ice  northward.  We  now  intended  to  visit  Peter 
Island  if  possible.  At  first  we  made  good  progress. 
The  young  ice  was  five  inches  thick,  but  this  we  cut 
like  butter.  The  large  old  floes  were  either  pressed 
out  of  our  way,  or  broken.  There  were  many 
groups  of  small  penguins,  shedding  feathers  and  rest- 
ing with  their  ragged  coats  in  the  lee  of  hummocks. 
There  were  also  many  seals  on  the  ice.  On  the 
whole,  however,  our  hard  efforts  were  poorly 
rewarded,  for,  after  battling  with  the  ice  six  hours, 
we  had  gained  not  more  than  two  miles  and  were 
again  as  snugly  beset  as  before. 

We  have  wearied  of  pushing  southward  this  sea- 
son, and  are  discouraged  in  our  ability  to  move  in 
any  direction,  but  we  have  tried  hard  to  make  a 
higher  latitude.  Nature  frowns  upon  us  and  re- 
fuses to  reward  our  dearly-bought  venture.  She 
guards  the  mysteries  of  the  frozen  south  with  much 
jealousy.      She    tempts    us    by  permitting   a   small 

202 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

advance  and  a  long  look  ahead,  but  when  we  have 
resolved  to  force  on  into  the  white  blank,  the  icy- 
gates  close  as  if  to  say,  "  You  can  look,  but  you 
must  not  enter."  A  water  sky,  a  land  blink,  or 
some  other  sign,  indicative  of  land  or  open  water,  is 
constantly  before  us  and  these  are,  to  the  polar 
explorer,  like  the  Star  of  Bethlehem  to  the  children 
of  Israel.  They  perpetually  urge  us  on.  We  burn 
down  the  fires  and  wait  impatiently  for  better  suc- 
cess on  the  morrow,  feeling  always  that  we  have 
won  our  success,  thus  far,  by  our  own  hard  efforts, 
and  by  the  same  methods  we  hope  to  master  the 
barriers  now  walled  around  us.  Pressing  ice,  blast- 
ing head  winds,  blinding  snow  squalls,  and  all  the 
worst  elements  of  sea  and  weather  combine  to  be- 
wilder and  defeat  us. 

The  south  polar  lands  are  carefully  shielded  and 
fenced  off  by  the  circumpolar  pack.  The  regions  be- 
yond the  outer  edge  are  not  to  be  secured  from  the 
depths  of  mystery  by  a  dash  or  an  assault.  The 
fortifications  are  more  firmly  laid  than  ever  a  human 
mind  suggested.  The  prodigious  depths  of  snow 
above,  and  the  endless  expanse  of  ensnaring  sea 
around  are  mostly  impregnable  to  man.  He  who 
comtemplates  an  attack  on  this  heatless  under- 
surface  of  the  globe  will  find  many  tempting  allure- 
ments and  many  disheartening  rebuffs.  Such  has 
been  our  experience.  The  battle,  however,  should 
be  fought,  though  it  promises  to  be  the  fiercest  of 
all  human  engagements.  Science  demands  it, 
modern  progress  calls  for  it,  for  in  this  age  a  blank 
upon  our  chart  is  a  blur  upon  our  prided  enlighten- 

203 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 


ment.  A  measure  of  success 
is  certain  to  follow,  and  the 
victory  should  be  crowned  by 
the  ''  Stars  and  Stripes." 

Except  for  the  little  touch 
of  colour  at  sunrise  this  morn- 
ing, the  weather  has  been  one 
of  a  type  which  we  now  style 
gray  days.  These  gray  days 
are  entirely  characteristic  of 
the  antarctic.  There  is  no 
brightness,  no  sparkle,  no 
moving  wind  or  water,  noth- 
ing to  infuse  new  life  or  to 
lighten  our  spirits.  The  at- 
mosphere is  heavy,  but  not 
opaque,  the  sky  is  low  and 
gray,  the  extensive  pans  and 
bands  of  new  ice  are  a  smoky 
colour,  the  water  is  leaden, 
and  only  the  snow-decked  old 
pans  form  a  contrast  to  the 
gray  monotony,  and  even  these 
take  on  a  dirty  aspect.  All 
of  this  is  impressed  upon  the 
mind,  and  when  taken  together 
with  our  immobility  it  sets  up  a  grayness  in  our 
moods.  To-night  we  saw  a  sight  which  aroused 
us  to  other  thoughts.  The  sun  had  set  rather 
tamely,  leaving  only  a  narrow  zone  upon  which 
colour  was  poured ;  this  zone  was  light  blue  at  the 
water-line,  a  little   darker   above,   merging   into   a 

204 


Moon  Faces. 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 


violet,  and  then  into  an  orange 
red,  and  over  all  was  a  mouse- 
coloured  sky.  These  colours 
soon  vanished,  leaving  a  lemon 
colour  which  followed  the  sun 
on  its  journey  eastward.  At 
about  eight  o'clock  a  speck  of 
fire  was  seen  above  the  purple 
ice  northward,  but  neither  the 
ice  nor  the  sky  showed  any 
signs  of  a  reflected  light.  The 
sky  was  a  dark  purple  blue. 
All  was  still  and  dead  ;  there 
was  not  a  breath  of  air  stirring. 
The  dull  flame  slowly  in- 
creased in  size  and  changed 
its  form  with  marvellous  ra- 
pidity. Above  it  there  was  a 
little  blackness  suggestive  of 
smoke,  and  under  it  was  a 
cone-like  image  of  a  mount- 
ain peak  from  which  the  fire 
and  smoke  seemed  to  ooze. 
Excitement  ran  high  on  the 
Belgica,  The  thing  came  up- 
on us  out  of  the  smoky  purple 
sky  with  the  suddenness  of  a  flash-light.  To  many  of 
us  it  seemed  like  a  volcanic  fire  ;  to  all  it  was  an  awe- 
inspiring,  but  fascinating,  puzzle.  As  it  rose  slowly 
higher  it  seemed  to  pull  the  mountain  up  with  it ; 
presently  we  noticed  that  the  weird  object  had  not 
only  an  upward  movement  but  also  a  lateral  progress. 

205 


Moon  Faces. 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

Then  the  fire  separated  from  the  mountain  and  later 
the  smoke  separated  from  the  fire,  and  then  both 
smoke  and  mountain  vanished,  leaving  only  a  cone  of 
rayless  flame.  Every  few  seconds  for  fifteen  minutes 
this  extraordinary  object  underwent  a  remarkable 
transfiguration ;  now  it  was  oblong  with  its  greatest 
diameter  parallel  to  the  line  of  the  horizon,  again  it 
formed  an  inverted  cone,  at  other  times  it  became 
semi-circular,  and,  most  curious  of  all,  it  was  a  globe 
divided  by  a  line.  There  was  at  no  time  any  sign  of 
luminosity  about  the  spot.  It  remained  a  dull  red, 
fading  into  orange,  and  when  it  had  ascended  about 
five  degrees  it  assumed  the  form  of  a  ragged  ball  of 
old  gold.  By  this  time  we  had  discovered  that  it  was 
the  moon  making  anomalous  faces  as  it  passed 
through  the  icy  atmosphere  resting  on  the  pack. 
(It  was  a  sight  which  we  saw  many  times  after- 
wards, and  it  was  always  full  of  a  sort  of  weird 
glory,  of  which  we  never  tired.) 

March  13.  —  For  ten  days  we  have  had  clear 
skies  with  a  falling  thermometer,  and  though  the  ice 
has  spread  considerably,  leaving  large  open  leads 
and  lakes,  new^  ice  has  covered  the  water  so  quickly 
that  we  have  been  unable  to  push  out  of  our  icy  im- 
prisonment. Few  of  us  now  entertain  any  hope  of 
seeing  real  water  or  land  again  until  the  Frost  King 
loosens  his  grasp  upon  us.  There  is  considerable 
difference  of  opinion  as  to  our  present  position.  When 
one  walks  about  the  decks  the  men  are  frequently 
heard  discussing  the  recent  efforts  to  push  out  of  the 
ice.  They  say  the  attempts  have  been  half-hearted, 
and    that  we    are    in    the    pack    to    winter   by    in- 

206 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

tendon.  This  opinion  is  shared  also  by  some  mem- 
bers of  the  scientific  staff.  Within  the  past  four  or  five 
days  the  ice  has  been  much  separated,  but  our  efforts 
to  force  out  have  been  made  with  half-steam  and  for 
short  periods.  There  is  a  claim  of  indifference  among 
the  officers  as  to  whether  we  return  to  South  America 
to  winter,  Or  harbour  in  the  pack,  and  this  indifference 
is  shown  in  the  feeble  attempts  to  navigate  the  ship. 
Most  of  us  have  assumed  the  responsibility  of  criti- 
cising the  management,  and  all  blame  the  director 
for  entering  the  main  body  of  the  pack  at  the  sea- 
son's end.  After  airing  opinions,  though  adverse 
and  bitter  to  the  men  in  charge,  everybody  feels 
better.  These  complaints  are  a  sort  of  safety-valve, 
and  the  grunts  are  taken  good-humouredly.  The 
opportunity  to  find  fault  is  the  privilege  of  men  on 
the  threshold  of  polar  darkness,  and,  according  to 
my  experience,  the  members  of  every  expedition  do  it 
freely,  but  such  sentiments  are  generally  expunged 
from  the  narratives.  In  spite  of  our  disheartening 
prospects,  fits  of  melancholy,  and  spells  of  fault- 
finding, there  is,  in  general,  hearty  laughter  and 
jolly  good  feeling  on  board.  In  the  forecastle  the 
men  sing,  whistle,  and  squeeze  out  old  tunes  on 
the  accordion.  On  deck  they  kick  and  dance  and 
tell  funny  stories.  In  the  cabin  the  music  boxes  are 
kept  on  cheerful  notes,  and  altogether  we  are  mak- 
ing the  dead  world  of  ice  about  us  ring  with  a 
boisterous  noise.  Even  the  most  disheartened  among 
us  now  begins  to  see  new  charms  in  the  curious 
chance  which  may  make  us  the  first  of  all  human 
beings  to  pass  through  the  long  antarctic  night. 

207 


CHAPTER   XV 

HELPLESS   IN   A   HOPELESS  SEA   OF   ICE 

We  are  now  doomed  to  remain,  and  become  the  foot- 
ball of  an  unpromising  fate.  Henceforth  we  are  to  be 
kicked,  pushed,  squeezed,  and  ushered  helplessly  at 
the  mercy  of  the  pack.  Our  first  duty  is  to  prepare 
for  the  coming  of  the  night,  with  its  unknowable  cold 
and  its  soul-depressing  effects.  Aboard,  the  crew  are 
re-storing  coal  and  re-arranging  the  store  of  pro- 
visions. The  scientific  men  are  making  plans  for  a 
year  of  observations,  while  the  cook  is  racking  his 
brain  to  devise  some  new  dishes  to  appease  our 
fickle  appetites.  His  soups  are  full  of  "mystery," 
and  the  ''embalmed  meats"  are  on  every  tongue  for 
condemnation.  Outside  there  has  been  a  rapid  trans- 
formation. The  summer  days  of  midnight  suns  are 
past,  and  the  premonitory  darkness  of  the  long  night 
is  falling  upon  us  with  marvellous  rapidity,  for  in  this 
latitude  the  sun  dips  below  the  southern  skies  at 
midnight  late  in  January.  This  dip  increases,  and 
sweeps  more  and  more  of  the  horizon  every  day 
until  early  in  May,  when  the  sun  sets  and  remains 
below  the  horizon  for  seventy-one  days.  When  we 
first  skirted  the  pack-ice  in  February  there  were  a, 

208 


M.  van  Rysselberghe  at  the  condenser,  which  was  converted  into 
a  snow  melter.  This  apparatus,  by  the  combined  ingenuity  of  van 
Rysselberghe  and  van  Mirlo,  was  taken  out  of  the  engine-room, 
placed  on  deck,  and  so  altered  that  it  burned  seal  blubber,  From 
this  the  Belgica  was  supplied  with  water, 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

few  hours,  at  midnight,  of  bright  twilight.  The 
darkness  then  was  not  sufficient  to  prevent  naviga- 
tion throughout  the  night ;  but  now  it  is  really  dark 
for  eight  hours.  The  temperature,  too,  is  falling 
rapidly.  We  have  been  led  to  believe  by  the  ex- 
periences of  previous  antarctic  explorers  that  the 
temperature,  compared  with  arctic,  would  be  more 
moderate ;  but  in  this  we  are  disappointed.  An  icy 
wind  comes  from  the  south,  brushing  the  warm, 
moist  air  seaward  and  replacing  it  by  a  sharp,  frigid 
atmosphere.  The  temperature  falls  to  ten  degrees 
below  zero,  then  to  twenty  (and  later  it  descends  to 
thirty,  forty,  and  finally  forty-five). 

Soon  after  we  entered  the  main  body  of  the  pack 
a  fortnight  ago,  it  was  discovered  that  we  drifted 
with  the  ice  in  a  south-westerly  direction.  We  con- 
cluded, at  that  time,  that  we  were  in  a  current.  The 
shallow  sea  and  the  speed  with  which  we  moved 
were  in  favour  of  this  theory ;  but  now  we  are  drifting 
north-westerly,  and  we  begin  to  doubt  the  existence 
of  a  current.  The  ease  with  which  the  entire  horizon, 
with  its  numerous  mountains  and  fields  of  ice,  sails 
over  the  invisible  sea  makes  us  anxious  as  to  our 
destiny.  If  we  remain  here,  on  this  blank  space  of 
the  globe,  where  will  we  find  ourselves  a  year  hence  ? 
Will  it  be  north,  south,  east  or  west  ?  In  this  drift 
it  is  possible  that  the  ship  may  be  dragged  over  a 
submerged  reef,  and  it  is  also  possible  that  we  may  be 
carried  onto  a  rocky  shore,  or  against  the  formidable 
land-ice.  In  each  case  destruction  of  our  vessel  and 
a  miserable  death  for  all  must  be  the  inevitable  result. 

To  forestall  such  a  future  we  now  ascend  to  the 

209 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

crow's-nest  daily  and  with  the  telescope  search  the 
horizon.  New  bergs  come  over  one  part  of  the  cir- 
cle, old  ones  disappear  in  other  directions.  Appear- 
ances of  land  are  often  noted,  but  such  appearances 
are  no  longer  credited.  New  crevasses  form,  old 
ones  close,  but  on  the  whole  it  is,  day  after  day,  the 
same  heaving  sea  of  frozen  whiteness.  Neverthe- 
less the  views  are  encouraging,  and  they  now  and 
then  revive  the  dying  hope  of  release  from  the  icy 
prison.  There  is  promise  in  the  movement  of  the 
bergs,  the  continued  swell  of  the  sea,  and  the  slow 
mysterious  turning  of  the  floes,  together  with  the 
present  northerly  drift.  The  fact  that  each  floe  per- 
sistently remains  as  a  single  individual,  and  refuses 
to  unite  with  its  neighbours  to  form  a  conglomerate 
mass,  which  would  effectually  and  finally  cut  off  all 
hope  of  a  retreat  this  year,  is  a  pleasant  thought. 
A  brisk  storm  would  easily  separate  these  floes,  and 
the  open  water,  but  ninety  miles  north,  would  carry 
us  on  its  stormy  bosom  to  a  more  congenial  climate 
for  the  winter. 

Last  night  was  clear  and  blue.  We  knew  from  the 
stillness  of  the  air  and  crackle  of  the  ice  that  it  would 
be  very  cold,  and  so  it  proved.  At  six  o'clock  it  was 
- 14.6°  C.  (5. 72°  R),  at  midnight,  -  20°  C.  (-  4^  F.). 
A  number  of  royal  and  small  penguins  and  some 
seals  were  led  by  curiosity  to  visit  us.  They  called, 
and  cried,  and  talked,  and  grunted,  as  they  walked 
over  the  ice  about  the  ship,  and  were  finally  captured 
by  the  naturalist  and  the  cook,  who  had  an  equal 
interest  in  the  entertainment  of  our  animal  friends 
and  in  their  future  destiny.     A  few  nights  past  a  sea 

210 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

leopard  interviewed  the  meteorologist,  Arctowski. 
The  animal  sprang  suddenly  from  a  new  break  in 
the  ice  onto  the  floe,  upon  which  Arctowski  had  a 
number  of  delicate  meteorological  instruments,  and 
without  an  introduction,  or  any  signs  of  friendship, 
the  animal  crept  rapidly  over  the  snow  and  examined 
Arctowski  and  his  paraphernalia  with  characteristic 
seal  inquisitiveness.  The  meteorologist  had  nothing 
with  which  to  defend  himself,  and  he  didn't  appear 
to  relish  the  teeth  of  the  leopard  as  it  advanced  and 
separated  its  massive  jaws  with  a  bear-like  snort. 
He  walked  around  the  floe,  the  leopard  after  him. 
The  seal  examined  the  instruments,  but  they  were 
not  to  its  liking,  and  as  to  Arctowski,  it  evidently  did 
not  regard  him  of  sufficient  interest  to  follow  long, 
for  after  it  had  made  two  rounds  the  seal  plunged  into 
the  waters,  swam  under  the  ice  and  around  the  floe, 
and  then  raised  its  head  far  out  to  get  another 
glimps,e  of  the  meteorologist.  Thinking  that  the 
creature  contemplated  another  attack,  Arctowski 
made  warlike  gestures,  and  uttered  a  volley  of  sul- 
phureous Polish  words,  but  the  seal  didn't  mind  that. 
It  raised  its  head  higher  and  higher  out  of  the  water, 
and  displayed  its  teeth  in  the  best  possible  manner. 
Now  and  then  its  lips  moved,  and  there  was  audible 
a  weird  noise,  with  signs  which  we  took  to  be  the 
animal's  manner  of  inviting  its  new  acquaintance  to 
a  journey  under  the  icy  surface,  where  they  might 
talk  over  the  matter  out  of  the  cold  blast  of  the 
wind,  in  the  blue  depths  below. 

March    15. — The  weather    is   remarkably    clear. 
There  is  no  wind,  no  noise,  and  no  motion  in  the 

211 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

ice.  During  the  night  we  saw  the  first  aurora 
austraHs.  I  saw  it  first  at  eight  o'clock,  but  it  was 
so  faint  then  that  I  could  not  be  positively  certain 
whether  it  was  a  cloud  with  an  unusual  ice-blink 
upon  it  or  an  aurora ;  but  at  ten  o'clock  we  all  saw 
it  in  a  manner  which  was  unmistakable.  The  first 
phenomenon  was  like  a  series  of  wavy  fragments  of 
cirrus  clouds,  blown  by  strong,  high  winds  across  the 
zenith.  This  entirely  disappeared  a  few  minutes  after 
eight  o'clock.  What  we  saw  later  was  a  trembling 
lace-work,  draped  like  a  curtain,  on  the  southern  sky. 
Various  parts  were  now  dark,  and  now  light,  as  if  a 
stream  of  electric  sparks  illuminated  the  fabric.  The 
curtain  seemed  to  move  in  response  to  these  waves 
of  light,  as  if  driven  by  the  wind  which  shook  out  old 
folds  and  created  new  ones,  all  of  which  made  the 
scene  one  of  new  interest  and  rare  glory. 

That  I  mio^ht  better  see  the  new  attraction  and 
also  experiment  with  my  sleeping-bag,  I  resolved  to 
try  a  sleep  outside  upon  one  of  the  floes.  For 
several  days  I  had  promised  myself  the  pleasure  of 
this  experience,  but  for  one  reason  or  another  I  had 
deferred  it.  At  midnight  I  took  my  bag  and,  leav- 
ing the  warmth  and  comfort  of  the  cabin,  I  struggled 
out  over  the  icy  walls  of  the  bark's  embankment,  and 
upon  a  floe  three  hundred  yards  east  I  spread  out 
the  bag.  The  temperature  of  the  cabin  was  the 
ordinary  temperature  of  a  comfortable  room  ;  the 
temperature  of  the  outside  air  was  -  20°  C.  (  -  4°  F.) 
After  undressing  quickly,  as  one  is  apt  to  do  in  such 
temperatures,  I  slid  into  the  fur  bag  and  rolled  over 
the  ice  until   I  found  a  depression  suitable  to  my 

212 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

ideas  of  comfort.  At  first  my  teeth  chattered  and 
every  muscle  of  my  body  quivered,  but  in  a  few- 
minutes  this  passed  off  and  there  came  a  reaction 
similar  to  that  after  a  cold  bath.  With  this  warm 
glow  I  turned  from  side  to  side  and  peeped  past  the 
fringe  of  accumulating  frost,  around  my  blow-hole 
through  the  bag,  at  the  cold  glitter  of  the  stars.  As  I 
lay  there  alone,  away  from  the  noise  of  the  ship,  the 
silence  and  the  solitude  were  curiously  oppressive. 
There  was  not  a  breath  of  air  stirring  the  glassy 
atmosphere,  and  not  a  sound  from  the  ice-decked 
sea  or  its  life  to  indicate  movement  or  commotion. 
Only  a  day  ago  this  same  ice  was  a  mass  of  small 
detached  floes,  moving  and  grinding  off  edges  with 
a  complaining  squeak.  How  different  it  was  now ! 
Every  fragment  was  cemented  together  into  one 
heterogeneous  mass  and  carpeted  by  a  hard,  ivory- 
like sheet  of  snow.  Every  move  which  I  made 
in  my  bag  was  followed  by  a  crackling  complaint 
from  the  snow  crust. 

At  about  three  o'clock  in  the  morning  a  little 
wind  came  from  the  east.  My  blow-hole  was 
turned  in  this  direction,  but  the  slow  blast  of  air 
which  struck  my  face  kept  my  moustache  and  my 
whiskers,  and  every  bit  of  fur  near  the  opening, 
covered  with  ice.  As  I  rolled  over  to  face  the  lee- 
ward there  seemed  to  be  a  misfit  somewhere.  The 
hood  portion  of  the  bag  was  as  hard  as  if  coated 
with  sheet-iron,  and  my  head  was  firmly  encased. 
My  hair,  my  face,  and  the  under  garments  about 
my  neck  were  frozen  to  the  hood.  With  every  turn 
I  endured  an  agony  of  hair  pulling.     If  I  remained 

213 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

still  my  head  became  more  and  more  fixed  by  the 
increasing  condensation.  In  the  morning  my  head 
was  boxed  like  that  of  a  deep  sea-diver.  But 
aside  fi*om  this  little  discomfort  I  was  perfectly  at 
ease,  and  might  have  slept  if  the  glory  of  the 
heavens  and  the  charm  of  the  scene  about  had  not 
been  too  fascinating  to  permit  restful  repose. 

The  aurora,  as  the  blue  twilight  announced  the 
dawn,  had  settled  into  an  arc  of  steady  brilliancy 
which  hung  low  on  the  southern  sky,  while  directly 
under  the  zenith  there  quivered  a  few  streamers ; 
overhead  was  the  southern  cross,  and  all  around  the 
blue  dome  there  were  sparkling  spots  which  stood  out 
like  huge  gems.  Along  the  horizon  from  south  to 
east  there  was  the  glow  of  the  sun,  probably  reflected 
from  the  unknown  southern  lands.  This  was  a  band 
of  ochre  tapering  to  gold  and  ending  in  orange  red. 
At  four  o'clock  the  aurora  was  still  visible  but  faint. 
The  heavens  were  violet  and  the  stars  were  now  fad- 
ing behind  the  increasing  twilight.  A  zone  of  yellow 
extended  from  west  around  south  to  east,  while  the 
other  half  of  the  circle  was  a  vivid  purple.  The 
ice  was  a  dark  blue.  An  hour  later  the  highest  ice- 
bergs began  to  glitter  as  if  tipped  with  gold,  and 
then  the  hummocks  brightened.  Finally,  as  the 
sun  rose  from  her  snowy  bed,  the  whole  frigid  sea 
was  coloured  as  if  flooded  with  liquid  gold.  I  turned 
over  and  had  dropped  into  another  slumber  when  I 
felt  a  peculiar  tapping  on  the  encasement  of  my  face. 
I  remained  quiet,  and  presently  I  heard  a  loud  chat- 
ter. It  was  uttered  by  a  group  of  penguins  who  had 
come  to  interview  their  new  companion.     I  hastened 

214 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

to  respond  to  the  call,  and,  after  pounding  my  head 
and  pulling  out  some  bunches  of  hair,  I  jumped  into 
my  furs,  bid  the  surprised  penguins  good  morning, 
and  went  aboard.  Here  I  learned  that  Lecointe,  not 
knowing  of  my  presence  on  the  ice,  had  taken  me 
for  a  seal,  and  was  only  waiting  for  better  light  to  try 
his  luck  with  the  rifle. 


215 


CHAPTER  XVI 

BIRD'S-EYE   VIEW   OF   THE   PACK— AUTUMNAL 
TEMPESTS 

On  the  morning  of  the  i6th  several  of  us  went  to 
the  crow's-nest  to  get  a  bird's-eye  view  of  the  pack. 
Only  two  could  rest  in  the  nest  at  one  time,  and  at 
best  it  is  a  shivery  roost,  but  Arctowski  and  I  re- 
solved to  enter  it  this  morning  and  there  spend  an 
hour  in  study  and  philosophy.  We  climbed  up  over 
a  series  of  rope  ladders  which  were  coated  with  an 
inch  of  hoar-frost  in  large  crystals.  The  metallic 
jingle  of  these  crystals  made  a  music  full  of  curious 
interest,  and  the  gem-like  glitter  of  the  masts  fired 
by  the  silvery  beams,  as  the  sun  rose  over  the  white 
splendour  of  the  pack,  was  a  sight  which  made  us  hes- 
itate to  tread  on  the  bejewelled  ropes.  Arctowski 
entered  the  bottom  of  the  barrel  first  and  quickly 
kicked  and  pushed  out  the  frost,  sending  down  a 
cloud  of  ice  which  covered  my  face  and  sent  streams 
of  sharp  crystals  down  my  back.  We  had  been  in 
the  crow's-nest  some  minutes  surveying  the  splendour 
of  the  widened  horizon  before  we  began  to  talk  and 
discuss  the  situation.  On  deck  there  had  been  no 
wind,  but  here  there  is  a  little  air  coming  from  all 

216 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

directions ;  now  from  the  south,  now  from  the  north, 
and  again  from  the  east  or  the  west.  This  we 
regard  as  a  certain  sign  of  an  immediate  change  in 
the  weather.  There  is  also  a  restlessness  in  the 
pack  which  is  an  equally  certain  indication  of  a 
change.  The  water-sky,  which  we  saw  yesterday, 
has  extended  considerably.  The  ice  is  spreading 
out  in  some  directions,  leaving  large  open  lanes  of 
bright  blue  sea  with  a  metallic  lustre.  The  width 
of  these  lanes  is  from  ten  to  fifty  feet,  and  they 
extend  northerly  as  far  as  the  eye  can  reach.  Many 
of  these  expanses  of  water  offer  us  a  free  highway 
out  of  our  present  dilemma.  Over  the  beam,  within 
three  hundred  yards,  there  is  a  river-like  stream,  but 
we  cannot  get  to  it.  In  a  direction  at  right  angles 
to  these  lanes  there  is  considerable  pressure.  This 
is  shown  by  the  many  lines  of  hummocks  raised  on 
the  edges  of  the  floes. 

We  have  taken  a  few  pictures  of  this  bird's-eye 
view  of  the  site  (which  later  proved  to  be  our  winter 
home),  but  these  in  black  and  white  are  poor  illus- 
trations of  the  pack  which  is  always  flooded  with  curi- 
ous colours,  in  unique  blends,  and  soft  shades.  At 
this  time  the  sun  burst  through  a  torn  space  in 
a  gathering  blackness  northward,  and  sent  her 
beams  lightly  to  the  ice,  making  each  pan  as  lumi- 
nous as  if  frosted  with  a  covering  of  diamonds.  The 
edges  of  these  pans  are  raised  by  contact  with  neigh- 
bouring pans.  Suspended  from  these  elevations 
are  icicles,  and  over  and  under  these  the  ice  is 
charged  with  yellow  sea  algae,  making  a  ring  of  gold 
around  the  gem-strewn  floes.     In  a  few  places  the 

217 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

water  is  covered  with  a  green  lacework  of  new  ice, 
and  everywhere  there  is  a  delicate  suggestion  of 
lilac,  raising  the  high  lights,  colouring  the  shadows, 
and  saturating  the  air  with  a  mysterious  luminosity. 
Our  position  at  the  top  of  the  mast  is  like  that  of 
a  bird  far  up  under  the  heavens.  The  great  ugly- 
looking,  but  vigourous,  giant  petrels  are  dashing 
past  our  heads  with  an  air  of  inquisitiveness.  The 
little  dove-like  white  petrels  come  to  us  almost  within 
reach  of  our  arms,  and  the  graceful  brown  sea-gulls 
rush  over  us  and  around  us  with  a  startling  buzz. 
We  are  inclined  to  drift  into  poetry  and  philosophy 
this  morning,  and  everything  about  encourages  this 
mood.  The  day,  with  a  temperature —  9°  C.  (15.8° 
F.),  is  a  delight,  and  as  we  look  down  upon  the 
endless  expanse  of  restless  frigid  ocean,  with  its 
primitive  life  and  death-like  silence,  we  dream 
of  primeval  nature.  For  here  is  the  world  nearest 
to  its  youthful  character.  The  moving  crust  of  the 
earth  with  which  we  drift,  the  hardy,  simple 
life,  and  even  the  sky,  all  suggest  a  period  of  the 
earth  in  its  infancy,  long  before  the  advent  of  man. 
It  is  this  strange  simplicity,  this  other- world  air  of 
terrestrial  youth,  which  makes  the  polar  regions  so 
fascinating  to  nature-loving  man.  Everything  about 
is  new,  yet  old ;  every  sight  is  simple,  yet  clothed 
in  mystery  ;  every  phenomenon,  like  a  shy  maiden,  is 
attractive  but  difficult  of  access.  The  haste  and 
the  bustle  of  the  living  world  are  far  from  the  mental 
horizon,  and  the  mind  is  ready  to  examine  the  new 
problems.  It  is  fortunate  that  one  can,  after  a  little 
experience,  here  open  the  book  of  Nature  and  record 

218 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

the  causes  and  effects  of  nearly  all  phenomena,  for 
then  the  mysterious  halo  which  surrounds  everything 
polar  disappears.  Each  point  of  attraction  which  at 
first  bewilders  us  by  its  strangeness  becomes  a  writ- 
ten page  to  be  added  to  the  future  annals  of  science. 
There  are  a  hundred  things  which,  in  this  way,  pre- 
sent new  aspects  daily  and  urge  the  mind  out  of  its 
lethargy  of  monotony  into  a  state  of  fascination. 
Now  we  see  some  peculiar  strip  on  the  sky,  a  strik- 
ing series  of  clouds,  a  rare  fog  effect,  an  unusual  sun- 
burst, or  an  aurora ;  then  it  is  something  connected 
with  the  sea  or  its  burden,  the  ice.  Perhaps  the 
surface  will  seem  motionless,  while  at  a  little  distance 
a  small  blue-ridged  berg  will  bound  and  dance  as  if 
animated  by  some  strange  submarine  spirit ;  or  per- 
haps one  of  the  bergs,  with  whose  face  we  are  familiar, 
will  suddenly  turn,  offering  a  new  face  and  a  curious 
colour.  Again  a  berg  is  seen  with  black  spots  and 
discoloured  stratifications.  What  is  the  origin  of 
this  ?  Is  it  the  output  of  a  volcano,  or  is  it  natural 
glacial  debris  ?  We  see  the  effects,  but  what  are  the 
causes?  And  so  the  questions  run.  Hardly  have 
we  learned  one  lesson  when  another  is  brought  to  our 
notice.  This  time,  perhaps,  it  is  some  speck  of  life, 
curiously  embedded  in  a  wilderness  of  ice.  What 
story  has  it  to  give  ?  To  what  family  does  it  belong  ? 
We  want  to  know  its  manner  of  life,  its  food,  some- 
thing of  its  migration,  and  so  on.  There  is  always 
a  stimulus  for  an  endless  series  of  interesting  obser- 
vations. It  is  these  tempting  studies  which  lift  the 
spirits  above  the  even  plane  of  white  monotony.  It 
is  this  fresh  interest  in  the  unknown  which  makes 

219 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

life  tolerable.  We  all  like  to  ponder  over  the  days  of 
our  youth;  those  of  an  inquiring  turn  of  mind  love  to 
reflect  upon  the  youthful  days  of  the  earth;  and  look- 
ing at  the  polar  world,  as  a  whole,  it  bears  a  close 
relation  to  what  it  must  have  been  when  man  first 
came  to  it. 

Shortly  after  noon  the  thermometer  rose,  the 
barometer  fell,  and  the  sky  assumed  a  dirty  gray. 
Out  of  the  north  came  a  brisk  wind  with  a  steadily 
increasing  force.  We  have  now  learned  that  this  is 
the  condition  for  a  storm.  The  wind  increased  to 
a  half  gale  with  snow,  and  continued  to  blow  fiercely 
all  day.  At  four  o'clock  we  noticed  by  the  squeak- 
ing of  the  ice  that  a  swell  was  rolling  under  us. 
We  did  not  feel  its  effects  about  the  ship  until  seven 
o'clock.  Then  the  ice  cracked  about  us,  and  was 
forced  together  with  a  pressure  which  aroused  con- 
siderable fear  regarding  the  safety  of  the  Belgica. 
Huge  hummocks  rose  on  every  side,  floes  were 
forced  over  each  other,  and  against  the  sides  of 
the  vessel.  The  paint  was  scraped  from  her,  frag- 
ments of  wood  were  gouged  out  of  her,  and  she  was 
thrown  over  on  a  floe  where  she  lay  taking  the 
thumps  and  steady  pressure  with  cracks  and  groans; 
but  the  good  old  ship  fought  her  battle  bravely. 
At  about  eight  o'clock  the  pressure  ceased  and  the 
ice  separated,  leaving  small  open  leads.  The  Belgica 
settled  down  again  into  the  water  and  sought  her 
equilibrium,  and,  though  there  was  considerable 
scraping  and  grinding  against  our  berths  later, 
there  was  no  more  pressure.  Early  in  the  evening 
there  appeared  a  strip  of  blue  sky  in  the  north  and 

2  20 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

in  It  appeared  the  moon,  now  a  small  crescent,  a 
mere  shadow  of  the  huge  ball  of  red  seen  a  fortnight 
ago.  The  sky  continued  to  clear  during  the  night, 
but  the  storm  increased  in  force. 

March  17. — The  storm  is  still  raging;  the  sky, 
and  even  the  snow  seems  black  under  the  inky 
gloom.  The  temperature  has  risen  nearly  twenty 
degrees  in  twenty-four  hours,  which  is  a  very 
remarkable  phenomenon  for  the  antarctic.  The  sky 
in  the  north-north-east  is  almost  constantly  black, 
indicating  what  we  believe  to  be  open  water  in  that 
direction.  From  the  ease  with  which  the  swell 
comes  in  under  the  pack,  and  the  frequent  zones  of 
water-sky,  we  estimate  that  we  are  within  fifty  miles 
of  the  open  ice-free  ocean  ;  but  to  reach  it  is  at 
present  impossible.  The  Commandant  and  the  cap- 
tain still  entertain  hopes  of  getting  out,  and  if  our 
engines  were  stronger  and  our  efforts  to  gain  freedom 
were  more  prolonged  we  might.  The  majority,  how- 
ever, are  now  resigned  to  the  fate  of  a  year  on  a  field 
of  drifting  ice,  though  Gerlache  still  talks  of  going  to 
Buenos  Aires,  and  Lecointe  discusses  a  long  list  of 
needful  things  which  he  wishes  to  purchase  for  the 
next  campaign.  The  days  are  growing  rapidly 
shorter  and  the  nights,  only  too  noticeably  longer. 
The  nights  have  not  now  that  white  glow  which 
they  had  a  few  weeks  ago.  It  Is  this  discourag- 
ing veil  of  blackness,  falling  over  the  sparkling 
whiteness  of  earlier  nights,  which  sends  a  vein  of 
despair  running  through  our  souls. 

March    18. — The  storm  persists  with  Its  hellish 
howl,  but  the  wind  is  veering  easterly.     The  tem- 

221 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

perature  remains  near  zero  and  this,  with  the  satura- 
tion of  the  atmosphere  and  almost  continuous  fall 
of  snow,  makes  everything  about  wet  and  slushy. 
The  decks  are  covered  with  a  mixture  of  wet  snow 
and  soot  and  heterogeneous  masses  of  wood.  The 
surface  of  the  pack  is  wet  and  the  snow  on  it  is 
soaked  with  water.  We  cannot  travel  on  it  without 
snowshoes,  and  we  cannot  use  snowshoes  because 
the  snow  adheres  to  the  wood.  We  must  in  con- 
sequence remain  on  board  in  our  cabins  and  listen  to 
the  maddening  howl  of  the  tempest,  as  it  plays  on 
the  ropes  and  masts  and  deck  over  us.  Nothing 
could  be  more  uncomfortable  than  this  thaw  coming, 
as  it  does,  while  the  winter  is  well  advanced.  We 
are  now  prepared  for  cold  weather.  Steady  low 
temperatures  would  be  our  delight,  but  these  wet, 
warm  days  bring  out  a  grunt  and  a  complaint  from 
everybody,  and  when  a  wet  snow-charged  tempest 
drives  the  slush  into  our  faces  and  through  every 
break  in  our  clothing,  as  we  make  the  necessary  ob- 
servations, the  situation  becomes  befitting  to  the  sul- 
phureous epithets  which  one  hears  from  stem  to 
stern. 

About  a  week  ago  we  killed  a  seal.  The  skin 
and  blubber  were  removed,  but  the  balance  of  the 
carcass  was  left  on  the  floe,  about  one  hundred  yards 
westward.  This  carcass  has  attracted  great  num- 
bers of  giant  petrels.  All  the  birds  about  except 
the  penguins  are  scavengers,  but  the  giant  petrel  is 
the  king  of  all.  We  have  had  an  excellent  oppor- 
tunity for  the  past  few  days  to  study  these  ugly  crea- 
tures.   In  size  they  are  about  as  large  as  a  goose,  but 

222 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

the  spread  of  wing  is  greater  and  the  body  smaller. 
Their  usual  colour  is  sooty-brown  with  a  grayish  head. 
There  is,  however,  considerable  difference  in  colour; 
for  they  range  from  fawn  to  chocolate,  and  from  black 
to  a  silvery  gray;  occasionally  one  sees  an  albino,  and 
also  some  white,  spotted  with  black  feathers.  In 
habits  they  are  gluttons.  Many  of  these  about  us 
now  have  eaten  so  much  that  they  are  unable  to  rise 
into  the  air,  but  sit  on  the  ice  with  head  and  feet 
tucked  into  their  rough,  bushy  feathers.  If  we  ap- 
proach them  they  run  along  a  few  hundred  feet  and 
then,  if  we  persist  in  the  chase,  the  birds  vomit 
great  quantities,  after  which  they  rise  into  the  air  and 
hover  above  us  in  a  threatening  manner.  When 
we  first  entered  the  pack  we  thought,  as  did  Captain 
Cook  and  other  early  navigators,  that  these  huge, 
coarse,  and  ugly  petrels  were  indicative  of  a  near- 
ness to  land,  but  we  have  now  abandoned  this  idea. 
The  giant  petrel  is  a  pack  animal,  and  seemingly 
prefers  the  pack-edge,  where  it  can  fish  in  the  open 
leads  and  light  upon  the  carcass  of  an  occasional 
seal  or  penguin.  We  learned  to  like  this  bird  for  its 
noticeable,  uncouth  ugliness.  It  was,  indeed,  our 
most  constant  companion  during  the  twelve  long 
months  following,  while  we  were  frozen  to  a  piece  of 
drifting  ice. 

March  19.  —  The  tempest  still  continues,  but  it 
is  coming  from  the  north  in  doleful  wails,  like  the 
moans  of  a  dying  soul,  which  indicate  that  its  force 
is  nearly  spent.  The  low,  gray  sky,  the  dead 
white  of  the  ice,  and  the  general  monotone  of  neu- 
tral colours  is  still  our  cheerless  outlook.     We  are 

223 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

indescribably  tired  of  these  seemingly  ceaseless 
storms.  It  is  not  possible  to  work  outside,  and  in- 
terior occupations  fatigue  us  so  much  that  we  soon 
weary  of  regular  work. 

5  p.  M. — The  storm  has  at  last  abated.  It  has 
left  us  so  suddenly  that  the  calm  is  as  unexpected 
as  it  is  appreciated.  The  barometer  is  steady 
and  the  temperature  is  falling  fast.  It  is  already 
—  9°C.,  and  is  still  falling.  The  scene  now  be- 
fore us  is  full  of  new  delights.  The  ice  is  spread 
out  again,  bright,  soft  and  tinted  with  delicate  colours. 
Every  time  the  thick  air  and  the  gloomy  clouds  of 
storm  are  brushed  away,  the  pack,  white  and  spark- 
ling, has  a  new  story  to  tell.  It  brings  to  us  moods 
like  a  cheerful  page  in  a  sad  story.  Under  the  in- 
fluence of  this  spell  everybody  is  singing,  whistling, 
and  humming  familiar  tunes ;  all  are  planning  new 
work  and  nursing  big  ambitions.  In  the  cabin  the 
music-boxes  are  grinding  out  favourite  music,  which 
rings  over  the  pack  with  a  new  joy.  In  the  forecastle 
the  men  are  dancing  and  playing  the  accordion  with 
telling  effect.  From  some  invisible  point  of  the  pack 
there  comes  a  weird  response  to  every  discord  of  the 
music.  It  is  the  gha-a-ah,  gha-a-ah  of  the  penguins. 
We  have  had  a  peep  at  the  sun  and  this  has  brought 
about  an  intoxication  akin  to  alcoholic  stimulation, 
and  well  it  might,  for  the  brief  period  of  its  visibility 
has  been  a  dream  of  charms.  The  great  twilight 
zone  of  purple  fringed  with  violet  and  orange  and 
rose  is  rising  over  the  east.  The  zenith  is  pale  blue 
studded  with  a  few  scarlet  and  lavender  clouds,  and 
the  sun,   a  great  ball  of   old  gold,  is  sinking  under 

224 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

the  pearly  rose-tinged  line  of  the  endless  expanse 
of  ice. 

8  p.  M. — The  ice  shows  signs  of  strong  pres- 
sure from  the  north.  Along  the  crevasses,  running 
easterly  and  westerly  there  are  great  lines  of  hum- 
mocks from  four  to  eight  feet  in  height.  The  colours 
of  the  pack  are  now  far  from  the  despairing  mono- 
tone of  yesterday.  The  yellow  sea  algae  have 
already  fixed  themselves  in  the  new  ice  and  make  it 
appear  ocherous.  The  twilight  on  clear  nights  is 
extended  by  the  latent  luminosity  of  the  snow.  The 
blueness  of  the  pack  in  this  twilight,  separated  by 
the  ebony  lanes  of  open  water  and  decorated  by  the 
algae-strewn  yellow  and  green  lines  in  the  hummocks, 
make  the  scenes  curiously  attractive.  Added  to  this 
we  have  the  bergs,  tall,  sharp,  and  imposing,  stand- 
ing out  against  the  soft  blue  of  the  sky  and  the 
hard  blue  of  the  pack  as  if  cut  from  huge  masses  of 
alabaster.  The  whole  scene  is  one  of  lively  con- 
trasts, pleasing  to  the  eye  and  stimulating  to  the 
mind,  having  quite  the  reverse  of  the  effect  of  the 
days  of  darkness  and  depressing  storms  which  have 
preceded. 

At  about  ten  o'clock  we  saw  a  second  aurora.  It 
began  as  a  ragged  arc,  spread  easterly  and  westerly 
across  the  southern  sky  with  a  straight  line  running 
under  it  close  to  the  horizon.  The  space  under  the 
arc  was  noticeably  darker  than  the  surrounding  sky, 
and  in  this  space,  also  in  a  straight  line,  were  four 
luminous  spots.  The  colour  of  the  aurora  was  a 
bright  cream  with  an  occasional  suggestion  of  pink. 
There  was  no  noticeable  reflection  of  light  on  the 

225 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

snow.  There  was  a  quick  and  constant  transforma- 
tion in  the  form  of  the  phenomenon.  A  wave  of  Hght 
ran  through  the  luminous  bands  and  spots  from  east 
to  west.  Some  parts  brightened  and  enlarged,  others 
darkened  and  faded  away.  The  arcs  were  generally 
of  a  steady  rayless  brightness;  the  apparent  move- 
ment and  wavy  effect  of  light  was  in  a  series  of  sharp 
rays  on  a  film-like  display  before  the  arc.  I  found 
it  difficult  in  the  low  temperature  to  remain  outside 
for  periods  sufficiently  prolonged  to  catch  the  minute 
changes  in  force  and  character,  but  I  made  a  series 
of  eight  sketches  at  intervals  of  about  twenty  min- 
utes apart,  which  illustrate  the  most  striking  changes. 
The  second  form  was  a  homogeneous  arc  with  a 
fragment  of  a  second  arc  under  it.  This  hung  for 
some  time  with  a  steady  nebulous  glow  between 
it  and  the  one  previous,  as  well  as  between  the  in- 
tervening periods  of  all.  The  following  typical  forms 
then  were  rapid  and  almost  imperceptible  grada- 
tions. The  third  sketch  represents  the  same  pri- 
mary arc  always  of  the  same  size  and  in  the  same 
position  on  the  heavens  :  but  under  it  are  portions 
of  two  other  arcs  and  a  suggestion  of  a  luminous 
horizontal  line.  At  times  a  wave  of  rays,  converg- 
ing to  the  pole  of  the  circle  described,  ran  over  the 
main  arc.  In  the  fourth  sketch  there  are  two  arcs 
and  a  portion  of  a  third  which  were  seen  persistently 
in  all  the  exhibits  to  the  present.  In  the  fifth  there 
is  a  second  arc  crossing  the  first.  This  was  sug- 
gested in  the  third  and  it  reappeared  in  the  seventh. 
The  sixth  form  was  an  arc  with  three  ribbons  of 
luminous  beams  waving  from  side  to  side.  The  ex- 
hibit ended  with  a  plain  arc  aglow  with  a  steady  light. 

226 


CHAPTER  XVII 

THE  FADING  DAYS  OF  THE  AUTUMN 

March  20. —  Although  the  wind  which  has  swept 
the  pack  for  the  past  few  days  has  entirely  subsided, 
the  temperature  has  not  fallen  as  low  as  we  had  ex- 
pected. The  thermometer  has  registered  to  —  1 5^  C. 
(5°  F.)  during  the  night,  and  is  about  —9°  C. 
(15.8°  F.)  to-day.  After  these  storms  we  usually 
have  a  few  days  of  calm  weather  with  a  low  tempera- 
ture, and  after  each  successive  blow  we  find  that  the 
mercury  settles  closer  and  closer  to  the  bulb.  We  are 
expecting  every  morning  to  find  the  quicksilver  frozen. 
This  is  a  cloudless  day  with  a  sharp  sun  and  a  blind- 
ing glitter.  The  topography  about  has  changed 
much  under  the  influence  of  the  drift-snow  during 
the  last  storm.  About  the  ship  there  are  huge  drifts 
of  snow  which  make  it  difficult  to  disembark.  The 
old  hummocks  are  reduced  to  little  rounded  hills,  the 
small  crevasses  are  filled  with  new  ice  and  snow,  and 
the  entire  pack  of  restless  floes  near  the  bark  seems 
more  like  one  homogeneous  mass.  Everything  is 
restful  and  motionless,  and  covered  with  the  white 
silence  of  death.  We,  of  the  scientific  staff,  have 
taken  advantage  of  this  promise  of  ice  stability  to 

227 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

make  short  excursions  over  the  ice  to  the  neighbour- 
ing bergs,  and  to  interesting  spots  in  the  surround- 
ing regions  that  we  might  better  study  the  Hfe  and 
the  upbuilding  of  the  sea  of  ice  in  which  we  are 
fated  to  be  kicked  about,  until  the  thaw  of  another 
year  may  set  us  free.  The  snow  is  sheeted  with 
a  hard  crust,  as  it  usually  is  after  a  storm,  but  we 
find  it  unsafe  to  travel  even  short  distances  without 
snowshoes.  The  depth  of  snow  is  such,  and  the 
crevasses  are  so  numerous,  that  the  small  bearing 
surface  of  the  foot  is  likely  to  permit  us  to  sink 
down  out  of  sight. 

For  these  journeys,  when  a  quick  unencum- 
bered march  is  intended,  we  all  prefer  the  Nor- 
wegian ski,  but  when  it  is  necessary  to  ascend 
slopes,  to  cross  rough  ice,  or  to  pull  sledges,  the 
ski  is  decidedly  inferior  to  Indian  or  to  Alpine 
snowshoes.  Our  skis  are  mostly  nine  feet  long; 
with  these  on  our  feet  we  skate  leisurely  over 
the  rough  uneven  surface  at  the  rate  of  about  three 
miles  per  hour.  Over  the  snow-covered  old  ice 
the  work  is  not  difficult,  but  when  we  come  to 
new  ice  recently  formed,  we  find  the  surface  as 
difficult  for  gliding  purposes  as  rubber.  To  cross 
these  it  is  generally  necessary  to  remove  the  ski 
and  walk.  It  was  a  matter  of  some  surprise  to  see 
the  large  number  and  the  great  width  of  these  strips 
of  new  ice  which  indicate  the  expansion  of  the  pack. 
At  a  distance  of  five  miles  we  found  ten  leads  with 
an  average  width  of  a  thousand  feet.  This  gives  an 
expansion  of  two  miles  as  a  result  of  the  last  storm. 
Ten  days  ago  we  went  over  this  same  path  to  a 

228 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

favourite  iceberg  which  has  been  named  "  Sweet- 
heart." We  then  found  the  distance  less  than  three 
miles;  to-day  the  journey  was  nearly  twice  as 
long.  If  the  pack  increases  at  this  rate  what  will  be 
its  limit  at  the  end  of  the  coming  winter  night  ?  We 
saw  only  one  small  and  two  royal  penguins,  one 
giant  petrel,  and  a  few  white  petrels.  There  were 
no  open  spaces  of  water,  hence  seals  and  whales  and 
penguins  have  departed  for  more  open  regions  in  the 
pack  farther  north.  The  penguins  we  saw  were 
stragglers  who  failed  to  go  to  more  congenial  re- 
gions before  the  new  ice  formed ;  they  remain 
near  icebergs  where  they  are  sure  to  find  new  crev- 
asses in  the  next  few  days,  and  to  be  deprived  of 
food  and  water  for  a  few  days  does  not  seem  to  seri- 
ously disturb  a  penguin.  About  the  bergs  we 
found  some  small  holes  through  the  new  ice,  out  of 
which  there  came  a  puff  of  vapour  with  a  hiss  at  regu- 
lar intervals.  These  were  the  breathing  holes  of  the 
crab-eating  seals  who,  like  the  stranded  penguins, 
await  a  change  in  the  movement  of  the  ice  when 
new  crevasses  with  open  spaces  of  water  will  again 
appear. 

The  icebergs  seem  to  be  the  great  disturbing  ele- 
ment in  the  movement  of  the  sea-ice.  We  have 
several  times  thought  that  they  were  propelled  by 
some  contrary  under-current,  but  the  extended  ob- 
servations we  have  made  to  the  present  prove  quite 
another  fact.  We  know  that  the  pack,  as  a  whole, 
is  extremely  sensitive  to  the  force  of  the  wind ;  it 
easily  and  quickly  takes  the  direction  of  winds  of 
even  mild  force.     When  this  wind  is  long  continued 

229 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

there  is  a  line  of  pressure  ridges  at  right  angles  to 
the  direction  of  the  wind,  and  lanes  of  open  water 
in  line  with  the  wind,  indicating  a  tendency  of  the 
ice  to  separate  in  the  way  of  least  resistance,  which 
is  always  north.  The  bergs  always  have  an  ap- 
parent movement  diametrically  opposite  to  the  move- 
ment of  the  pack.  This  is  indicated  by  a  number  of 
hummocks  and  pressure  ridges  to  the  windward,  and 
the  usual  open  lakes  to  the  leeward  of  each  iceberg. 
While  it  is  thus  proven  that  the  berg  passes  through 
the  sea-ice  in  a  direction  opposite  to  the  force  of  the 
wind,  the  nautical  observations  prove  that  the  entire 
mass,  icebergs  and  sea-ice,  move  with  the  wind 
with  a  speed  depending  upon  the  resistance,  the 
force,  and  the  direction  of  the  wind.  Under  ordi- 
nary conditions  an  iceberg  sinks  seven-eighths  of  its 
mass  under  water.  A  berg  two  hundred  feet  above 
water  therefore  has  a  base  fourteen  hundred  feet 
under  water.  The  force  of  the  wind  expended  upon 
the  two  hundred  feet  above  is  extremely  small  com- 
pared to  the  enormous  resistance  offered  by  the  four- 
teen hundred  feet  under  water.  The  conclusion  must 
be  that  the  berg  seems  to  move  against  the  wind 
because  of  its  greater  resistance ;  but  in  reality  it, 
like  the  sea-ice,  is  also  carried  along  by  the  wind 
and  forced  on  by  the  greater  speed  floe-ice. 

March  21. —  It  is  a  dull,  gray  day.  The  sky  is 
low,  with  a  high  fog,  but  along  the  south  and  east 
there  are  breaks  in  the  clouds  permitting  a  few  rays 
to  steal  a  passage  to  the  cold,  white  world  below. 
The  night  was  bright  early  in  the  evening  with  a 
few  auroras,  cloud-like  fissures,  or  luminous  patches 

230 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

in  the  south-west,  but  they  were  of  short  duration. 
After  midnight  the  heavens  assumed  the  dullness 
which  now  makes  the  scene  one  of  deep  gloom.  It 
is  on  such  days  that  we  assume  a  disgusted  and 
fault-finding  mood.  To-day  we  are  dissatisfied  with 
the  food.  We  have  complained  intermittently  for  a 
long  time,  but  now  everybody  seems  bent  on  having 
his  say  as  to  the  badness  of  our  provisions.  We 
have  tried  penguins  and  cormorants,  but  the  major- 
ity have  voted  them  unpalatable.  The  excitement, 
heretofore,  of  new  discoveries  and  new  sights  to  in- 
fuse fresh  life  has  been  too  frequent  and  too  long 
continued  to  permit  us  to  think  of  dainty  foods  and 
tempting  relishes.  Now  it  is  different.  We  are 
held  by  the  increasing  grip  of  the  too  affectionate 
pack.  We  are  imprisoned  in  an  endless  sea  of  ice, 
and  find  our  horizon  monotonous.  We  have  told  all 
the  tales,  real  and  imaginative,  to  which  we  are 
equal.  Time  weighs  heavily  upon  us  as  the  darkness 
slowly  advances.  The  despairing  storms  and  the 
increasing  cold  call  for  some  new  fuel  to  keep  the 
lowering  fires  of  our  bodies  ablaze. 

I  have  taken  the  trouble  to  make  a  personal  can- 
vass of  every  man  of  the  Belgica  to-day  to  find  out 
the  greatest  complaints  and  the  greatest  longings  of 
each.  The  result  of  this  inquiry  was  certainly  a  les- 
son in  curious  human  fancies.  In  the  cabin  the  fore- 
most wants  are  for  home  news  and  feminine  society. 
We  are  hungry  for  letters  from  mothers,  sisters,  and 
other  men's  sisters,  and  what  would  we  not  give  for 
a  peep  at  a  pretty  woman  ?  Racovitza  reminds  us 
daily  that  he  will  write  a  book  describing  life  in  the 

231 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

"Ladyless  south,"  and  we  have  all  agreed  to  con- 
tribute articles  to  a  forthcoming  paper  in  which  we 
shall  advertise  our  wants.  This  paper  will  take  the 
generic  name  given  us  by  the  naturalist,  *'The  Pack 
Loafers'  World."  In  the  forecastle  the  men  are  less 
sentimental  and  less  inclined  to  poetry.  They  desire 
first  some  substantial  for  the  stomach.  Fresh  food, 
such  as  beefsteaks,  vegetables,  and  fruits  are  their 
foremost  wants.  Two  or  three,  in  lone  dark  corners 
and  in  tears,  slyly  admit  that  a  few  moments  with  the 
girls  of  their  hearts  would  be  more  to  their  liking. 
They  would  like  fresh  foods,  but  they  long  for  free- 
dom from  the  lonely  pack,  and  the  congeniality  of  a 
land  of  feminine  charms.  Our  hatred  is  all  heaped 
upon  one  class  of  men.  They  are  the  inventors  and 
manufacturers  of  the  various  kinds  of  canned  and 
preserved  meats.  Our  general  name  for  ** embalmed 
beef"  is  **  Kydbolla."  If  these  meat-packers  could 
be  found  anywhere  within  reach  they  would  be- 
come food  for  the  giant  petrels  very  quickly.  In 
this  one  sentiment  we  are  all  of  one  accord.  Down 
with  "embalmed  beef"  and  everybody  associated 
with  it ! 

I  must  hasten  to  say  that  our  food  is  not  without 
variety,  its  quality  is  good,  and  it  is  perhaps  all  that 
could  be  desired  under  the  circumstances ;  but  men 
in  the  monotone  of  polar  regions  develop  flighty  long- 
ings. We  have  for  breakfast  cereals,  such  as  corn 
meal,  crushed  oats,  hominy,  good,  freshly-baked  bis- 
cuits, oleomargarine,  marmalade,  and  coffee.  Our 
supply  of  sugar  is  low  and  the  provision  of  milk  is 
almost  exhausted.     It  is  the  sugar  and  milk  which 

232 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

are  in  greatest  demand.  For  dinner  we  have  soups 
of  various  kinds,  canned  meats,  preserves,  potatoes 
and  macaroni,  with  a  dessert  of  fruit  pudding.  Our 
supper  consists  of  fish,  cheese,  and  an  occasional 
conglomerate  mixture  of  macaroni,  nulles,  pemmi- 
can,  and  tinned  meats.  There  is  a  sufficient  vari- 
ety to  prevent  a  dislike  for  any  one  article.  There 
are,  however,  a  few  things  to  which  many  have 
developed  a  sharp  animosity.  These  are  usually  the 
articles  with  a  neutral  flavour.  The  things  hated 
most  violently  are  kydbolla  and  fiskabolla ;  both  are 
Norwegian  concoctions  of  doubtful  stuffs.  The 
kydbolla  is  said  to  be  a  mixture  of  ground  beef  and 
cream,  and  the  fiskabolla  is  described  as  a  compound  of 
fish  and  cream.  We  are,  however,  ungrateful  enough 
to  doubt  the  usual  truthfulness  of  our  Norse  friends. 
The  colour  and  consistency  of  the  meats  and  fish 
balls  are  such  that  no  suggestion  as  to  the  composi- 
tion is  possible,  and  thus  one  idea  after  another  is 
developed.  Some  prove  by  a  plausible  argument 
that  they  are  the  refuse  of  the  packing-house,  defibri- 
nated,  bleached,  ground,  and  compressed.  Others 
insist  that  useless  dogs,  cats,  and  what  not,  have 
been  utilised.  All  traces  by  which  one  might  dis- 
cover the  composition  have  been  removed ;  even  the 
odour  of  the  fish  has  been  destroyed  in  the  fish  balls. 
It  is  in  this  spirit  that  we  have  begun  to  eat  pen- 
guin meat.  The  doubtful  recommendation  which 
it  has  received  from  other  explorers  has  caused 
us  to  shun  it;  but  now,  for  variety,  we  would 
gladly  take  to  anything ;  even  horse  meat  would  be 
a  relish.     For  some  time  a  few  of  us  have  insisted 

233 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

upon  collecting  and  saving  all  the  penguins  pos- 
sible, both  for  the  skins  and  fresh  meat.  We  have 
tried  the  meat  several  times,  and  it  seems  to  im- 
prove upon  acquaintance.  It  was  amusing  to 
watch  the  first  trials:  little  pieces  were  taken  and 
tasted,  and  allowed  to  settle  into  the  stomach  slowly. 
With  a  few  some  time  elapsed  before  a  second  trial 
was  attempted.  Some  never  ventured  farther,  and 
others  passed  their  plates  for  a  second  and  third  help- 
ing. No  one  seemed  to  eat  the  penguin  steaks  with 
any  kind  of  relish,  but  somehow  we  stored  away  quite 
a  little  stack  of  it.  It  is  rather  difficult  to  describe  its 
taste  and  appearance ;  we  have  absolutely  no  meat 
with  which  to  compare  it.  The  penguin,  as  an  animal, 
seems  to  be  made  up  of  an  equal  proportion  of 
mammal,  fish,  and  fowl.  If  it  is  possible  to  imagine 
a  piece  of  beef,  an  odoriferous  codfish,  and  a  canvas- 
back  duck,  roasted  in  a  pot,  with  blood  and  cod-liver 
oil  for  sauce,  the  illustration  will  be  complete. 

March  22. —  The  storm  continued  through  the 
night  and  subsided  this  morning  at  sunrise,  but  be- 
gan again  at  3  p.m.,  and  now  at  5  p.m.  it  is  blowing 
a  full  gale  with  snow,  and  a  temperature  — 1.5°  C. 
(29.3°  F.).  The  effect  of  the  wind  and  the  drift  has 
made  little  change  upon  the  pack  in  general,  but  the 
Belgica  is  being  more  and  more  buried  in  the  accu- 
mulating banks.  The  last  wind  drove  us  south  nine- 
teen miles,  and  west  twenty-six  miles,  and  this 
storm,  being  from  about  the  same  direction,  will 
undoubtedly  drive  us  still  farther  into  the  frigid 
unknown. 

March  23. —  The  day  dawned  under  a  clear  sky 
with  a  little  wind  coming  from  the  south-east.     The 

234 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

temperature  is— 11.5°  C.  (11.3°  F.).  There  Is  no 
marked  change  in  the  ice  except  that  the  hard  sharp 
edges  and  projections  have  been  reduced,  and  the 
entire  pack  has  assumed  a  soft,  velvety-Hke  mantle 
which  is  due  to  the  enormous  quantity  of  drift-snow 
which  comes  with  the  strong  easterly  and  north-east- 
erly winds.  At  about  nine  o'clock  we  saw  a  mirage, 
a  cream-coloured  ridge  of  ice  apparently  raised  thirty 
or  forty  feet  above  the  general  surface  of  the  pack. 
After  dinner,  accompanied  by  Lecointe,  we  took  a 
journey  on  i-y^/  for  recreation.  We  chose  a  course 
due  south  and  travelled  about  two  miles.  The  ice 
was  rough,  full  of  small  hummocks  and  crevasses, 
and  altogether  very  difficult  for  travelling,  but  it  gave 
us  just  the  hard  physical  task  which  we  desired  for 
exercise.  At  the  end  of  our  journey  we  found  a 
large  lead  partly  covered  with  new  ice.  Its  direction 
was  south-east  and  its  width  about  fifty  feet.  It  was 
a  beautiful  river-like  band  of  sparkling,  blue  water 
which  would  have  afforded  the  bark  an  easy  passage 
homeward  or  poleward,  but  there  were  two  miles  of 
hard  unbroken  ice  between  it  and  this  promising 
highway.  To  each  side  of  the  lead  were  a  number 
of  small  penguins  sunning  themselves,  arranging 
and  oiling  their  feathers  for  a  plunge  into  the  waters. 
In  the  lead  in  several  places  we  saw  a  few  black  spots 
which,  upon  closer  examination,  proved  to  be  groups 
of  penguins  coming  up  from  the  depths  of  the  ocean  to 
breathe  and  to  sport  on  the  surface  after  having  had 
a  full  meal  of  shrimps.  On  the  return  some  of  these 
penguins  followed  us  to  the  ship  and  were  captured 
by  the  hunters  after  considerable  difficulty. 

March   24.  —  There  were  a  few   faint,  luminous 

23.5 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

patches  of  aurora  last  night,  but  the  exhibit  was  so 
weak  that,  had  it  not  been  in  the  usual  position  of 
auroras,  it  would  have  passed  unrecognised.  The 
day  is  dull  and  gloomy.  The  .morning  was 
somewhat  bright  and  cheerful,  but  the  wind  has 
veered  to  the  north-west,  and  at  three  o'clock  it 
increased  to  a  howling  gale  with  snow  and  a  sky 
sheeted  with  lead.  The  barometer  is  falling  with 
a  quiver  which  seems  to  indicate  an  increase  and 
prolongation  of  the  storm.  There  is  much  move- 
ment in  the  ice ;  new  fractures  are  visible,  and  from 
the  south  to  the  east  there  is  a  water-sky,  probably 
indicating  a  large  lake  of  open  water.  One  giant 
petrel  was  the  only  life  seen  to-day.  A  few  minutes 
before  six,  while  the  storm  still  raged,  a  strip  of  the 
sky  in  the  west  brightened,  and  over  it  the  sun, 
brushed  by  snow-charged  winds,  sank  to  her  rest. 
It  is  now  so  dark  in  the  cabin  at  seven  o'clock  that 
we  must  use  a  light  during  supper. 

March  25. — The  storm  continued  all  night,  but 
stopped  suddenly  soon  after  sunrise.  The  morn- 
ing gave  no  promise  of  better  weather.  The  sky 
remained  low,  the  atmosphere  wet  and  uncomfort- 
able. After  noon  a  southerly  wind  cleared  the  sky 
and  the  air,  and  sent  the  thermometer  falling  rapidly. 
The  ice  is  separating,  leaving  large,  open,  endless 
leads  running  north-west  and  south-east;  any  one 
of  these  leads  offers  us  an  excellent  passage  out 
of  this  unearthly  sea  of  ice.  There  is  one  within 
two  hundred  yards  of  the  bow,  but  this  might  as 
well  be  ten  miles  off,  for  we  cannot  get  the  vessel  to 
it.    We  have  made  some  journeys  along  these  leads, 

236 


ANTARCTIC   NIGHT 

but  have  seen  only  one  giant  and  two  snow  petrels. 
The  captain's  observation  at  noon  shows  that  we 
have  drifted  eleven  miles  northward.  We  have  made  a 
sounding  to-day,  and  are  beginning  to  prepare  the 
Belgica  for  her  long  sleep  through  the  coming  winter 
darkness. 

March  26. —  A  white  day,  with  a  blinding  glitter 
from  the  ice.  An  ice-edge  southerly  wind  is  keeping 
the  temperature  close  to  —  20°  C.  (—4°  F.).  In  our 
excursions  to-day,  we  found  the  leads  of  yesterday 
converted  into  large  lakes  partly  covered  by  quickly- 
forming  new  ice,  which  was  about  an  inch  thick  and 
covered  by  a  decoration  of  hoar-frost  in  large  crystals. 
In  the  centre  of  these  lakes  there  were  small  pools 
of  open  water,  and  in  these  several  families  of 
small  penguins  were  darting  like  sunbeams  through 
the  water  to  keep  from  freezing  to  the  new  ice.  The 
shores  of  these  lakes  and  the  broad  sheets  of  ice, 
which  spread  out  over  the  glassy  blue  water,  were 
covered,  decorated,  and  bejewelled  by  a  garden-like 
growth  of  ice-flowers.  In  the  absence  of  budding 
plants  we  take  very  kindly  to  these  crystal  shrubs. 
It  is  remarkable  how  much  real  pleasure  we  find  in 
our  admiration  for  apparently  insignificant  things. 
The  forms  of  the  hummocks,  the  figures  of  the  drift- 
snow,  and  the  clusters  of  glittering  ice  crystals,  dis- 
played everywhere,  are  a  source  of  never-ceasing 
entertainment.  The  most  remarkable  of  these  for- 
mations are  what  we  have  affectionately  styled  ice- 
flowers.  In  reality,  they  are  snow  crystals,  so  as- 
sembled as  to  form  clusters,  which  are  arranged  in 
rows  on  the  new  ice.     These  ice-flowers  possess  the 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

charm  of  both  jewels  and  blooming  plants.  In  form 
they  are  flowers,  in  texture  they  are  gems.  They 
bud,  if  I  may  so  express  it,  with  the  first  sharp  breath 
of  winter,  casting  their  fragile  tendrils  into  a  hundred 
delicate  forms  wherever  a  suspicion  of  humidity  can 
be  hardened  with  sufficient  regularity  and  force. 
Upon  porous  young  ice,  adjacent  to  open  water,  is 
the  garden  spot  for  these  curious  growths.  They 
give  the  finishing  touch  of  harmony  to  the  rough 
outline  of  the  frowning  cliffs  of  ice.  They  gleam 
from  the  miniature  ice  mountains.  They  appear  as 
sparkling  flowers  upon  the  black  sheets  of  young  ice, 
and  convert  the  cold  monotony  of  the  pack  into  a 
glistening  field  of  beauty. 

March  27. —  During  the  night  we  had  a  striking 
auroral  display.  It  began  shortly  after  eight  as  a 
luminous  patch,  seemingly  a  part  of  an  arc.  This 
brightened  and  faded,  and  at  nine  it  disappeared  en- 
tirely. A  half-hour  later  a  complete  arc  was  visible 
with  a  ragged  patch  of  a  second  arc  under  it.  At 
ten  o'clock  bunches  of  rays  converging  towards  a 
common  centre  alternately  brightened  and  faded 
over  the  steady  luminosity  of  the  arc.  This  gave 
the  phenomenon  an  appearance  of  movement.  At 
eleven  o'clock  the  aurora  was  very  bright  and  the 
sky  under  it  seemed  much  darker.  Later  the  fan- 
tastic displays  settled  into  a  plain  white  arc,  with  a 
steadily  fading  glow. 

The  wind  this  morning  is  still  light  and  southerly. 
The  sky  has  a  brisk  wintry  look — a  quivering  high 
pale  blue,  lined  by  a  few  orange-tinged  and  violet 
alto-stratus  clouds  near  the  horizon,  which  seem  to 

238 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

be  placed  there  for  the  express  purpose  of  striking 
a  contrast  and  a  Hne  of  division  between  the  azure  of 
the  heavens,  and  the  blue  of  the  surface  snows.  The 
ice  has  separated  much  northward  and  westward. 
The  leads  running  south-west  and  north-east  have  a 
general  breadth  of  sixty  feet  and  are  mostly  covered 
by  a  green  sheet  of  new  ice.  Nearly  everybody  is  out 
on  ski  for  recreation  to-day.  Some  are  on  hunting 
excursions,  others  are  visiting  icebergs  for  toboggan 
and  ski  sports,  but  all  are  trying  to  have  a  royal 
good  time,  as  they  generally  do  on  Sundays  when 
the  weather  will  permit. 

Gerlache,  Danco,  and  I  went  on  a  long  journey 
due  north  to  examine  the  ice  and,  if  possible,  visit  a 
huge  tabular  iceberg  which  we  estimated  was  eight 
or  nine  miles  away.  We  found  the  ice  very  much 
crevassed,  but  there  was  everywhere  a  tendency  for 
the  floes  to  unite  and  assemble  into  a  larger  con- 
glomerate sheet,  which  we  call  a  field  because  from 
one  edge  we  cannot  see  its  termination.  The  snow 
was  hard  and  fairly  even,  making  excellent  ski 
travelling  except  at  the  pressure  angles  where  the 
fields  pommelled  each  other,  raising  rough  uneven 
ridges.  Most  of  the  leads  were  covered  with  new 
ice  sufficiently  strong  to  bear  our  weights  on  skis. 
We  saw  little  life.  There  were  many  penguin  tracks 
on  the  snow  with  a  general  northerly  direction,  from 
which  we  concluded  that  the  little  creatures  with 
good  sense  had  migrated  northward.  We  saw  also 
some  blow-holes  of  seals,  but  no  life  except  a  few 
snow  petrels.  The  whole  white  world  about  us  was 
deserted.     The  berg  was  a  much  greater  distance 

239 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

from  the  ship  than  we  had  estimated,  for  after  we 
had  wandered  over  the  ice  six  miles  the  great  wall 
seemed  as  far  away  as  ever.  We  should  have  con- 
tinued our  journey,  but  Danco  found  himself  unable 
to  follow  because  of  "  shortness  of  breath."  At  the 
limit  of  our  journey,  looking  north-westerly,  we  saw 
a  series  of  low  yellow  clouds,  and  under  these  a 
vague,  irregular  outline  which  had  the  appearance  of 
land. 

On  our  way  back  we  were  discussing  the  matter 
of  raising  flags  and  the  formality  of  taking  posses- 
sion of  newly  discovered  lands.  The  conclusion  at 
which  we  arrived  was,  that  the  first  chart  of  a  new 
country  was  quite  as  good  a  deed  to  the  title  of  land, 
as  the  empty  formality  of  pinning  a  bit  of  bunting 
to  a  temporary  post  and  drinking  to  the  health  of 
the  Royal  Ruler,  as  is  the  custom  of  British  ex- 
plorers. Thus  far  we  have  not  unfurled  a  flag,  nor 
have  we  made  any  other  effort  to  take  formal  posses- 
sion of  the  many  new  lands  which  we  have  discov- 
ered, except  by  our  attempts  at  scientific  exploration. 
This  is  in  sharp  contrast  to  the  British,  German  and 
Russian,  and  all  the  ancient  explorers  whose  first  act 
always  was  to  land  and  say,  ''This  by  the  help  of 
God,  the  consent  of  the  Pope,  and  the  permission  of 
the  King,  belongs  to  us  and  to  our  countrymen." 
The  modesty  of  the  Belgians  is  shown  by  the  fact  that 
the  staff  of  the  Belgica  went  ashore  to  gather,  not 
financial  returns,  or  titles  to  unclaimed  lands,  but 
links  of  truth  to  add  to  the  disconnected  chain  which 
is  to  bind  the  growing  annals  of  terrestrial  knowledge. 


240 


CHAPTER  XVIII 

THE  AUTUMN  (CONTINUED).    WORK 
AND  PASTIME 

March  28. —  It  is  another  day  of  clear,  white 
silence.  At  sunrise  and  at  sunset  the  twilight  zone 
is  becoming  more  and  more  marked.  It  is,  to-night, 
an  intense  purple  blue,  and  through  it  we  see  a  star. 
Arctowski  puts  down  the  mysterious  purple  as  a  re- 
flection from  the  shadows  of  the  pack-ice,  which  at 
this  time  is  a  deep  ultramarine  blue,  but  to  most  of 
us  it  is  still  a  puzzle.  We  are  all  occupied  to-day 
preparing  for  a  winter  campaign  of  work.  Danco 
is  building  a  triangular  hut  in  which  he  expects  to 
make  his  magnetic  observations.  Arctowski  is  ar- 
ranging a  new  system  for  meteorological  observa- 
tions and  is  scattering  his  instruments  over  the  ice, 
about  the  ship,  and  in  the  masts.  Racovitza  is 
studying  bird  and  seal  parasites,  and  everybody  else 
is  preparing  for  his  own  special  line  of  work.  We 
all  have  big  ambitions,  but  I  fear  our  efforts  will 
be  dwarfed  when  the  gloomy,  dayless  night  settles 
down  over  us. 

March  29. —  A  light  northerly  wind  has  lowered, 
and  darkened  the  heavens,  and  brought  over  us  a 

241 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

wet,  warm,  uncomfortable  atmosphere,  with  an  occa- 
sional fall  of  snow.  The  snow  on  the  pack  is  made 
adhesive  by  the  water-charged  air  which  is  being 
blown  over  the  ice  from  the  open  sea  now,  per- 
haps, one  hundred  miles  northward.  The  ski  will 
not  slide  and  sledges  can  be  drawn  only  with  great 
difficulty.  The  ice  is  still  spreading  out,  increasing 
the  width  of  the  leads,  while  the  temperature,  which 
is  close  to  zero,  is  not  low  enough  to  make  new  ice. 
Life  has  again  returned  in  abundance.  We  saw  four 
finback  whales  spouting,  blowing,  and  sporting, 
and  moving  leisurely  southward  in  the  leads.  We 
saw  also  many  white  and  giant  petrels,  and  great 
numbers  of  royal  and  small  pack  penguins.  On  a 
floe  about  three  miles  from  the  ship  we  encountered 
six  crab-eating  seals.  We  killed  all  of  these  and 
found  their  stomachs  distended  by  a  fresh  meal  of 
shrimp.  Two  were  pregnant,  and  from  these  the 
naturalist  secured  embryos  which  were,  indeed,  rare 
and  beautiful.  These  were  placed  in  a  jar  and 
marked  for  future  study.  As  the  sun  settled  under 
the  horizon  westward,  a  lemon  colour  spread  along 
the  sky  in  that  direction  and  early  in  the  night  the 
sky  cleared  somewhat.  There  was  a  small  feeble 
fragment  of  an  arc  aurora  hanging  in  the  south- 
west with  a  steady  glow  during  most  of  the  night. 
March  30. —  The  morning  opened  bright  and 
cloudless  with  a  temperature— 20^  C,  and  a  gentle 
southerly  air  which  has  brushed  away  the  heavy 
humid  air  of  yesterday.  Racovitza  and  I  went  to  a 
lead  which  Koren,  the  cabin-boy,  visited  yesterday, 
and  who  reported  thousands  of  penguins  and  hun- 

242 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

dreds  of  seals.  The  distance  was  about  two  miles 
and  the  travelling  on  the  floes  was  good,  but  when  it 
was  necessary  to  cross  old  breaks  over  the  hum- 
mocks, and  crushed  ice,  it  became  a  task  of  consider- 
able difficulty.  When  we  reached  the  lead  we  found 
that  what  Koren  had  said  was  to  some  extent  true. 
Upon  a  large  hummocky  floe  in  the  lead  there  was 
much  life.  We  counted  twenty  crab-eating  seals 
and  seventeen  king  penguins.  This  was  certainly 
the  largest  assemblage  of  the  great  penguins  and 
seals  which  we  had  seen  on  the  pack.  With  a  rifle 
Racovitza  shot  six  seals  and  with  my  ski  stick  I 
killed  all  the  penguins.  We  realised  the  fact  that  it 
was  cruel  to  do  this,  but  the  calls  of  science  and  the 
dire  needs  of  our  stomachs  made  the  deed  absolutely 
necessary.  The  seals  were  all  females  and  from 
them  we  obtained  four  embryos.  The  penguins 
were  bagged  for  food.  Later  in  the  day  a  westerly 
wind  raised  the  temperature  and  brought  great 
quantities  of  drift-snow.  During  the  night  the  wind 
increased  to  a  half-gale. 

March  31. — The  wind  has  veered  to  the  north 
and  is  still  coming  with  the  force  of  a  half- gale.  There 
are  great  drifts  of  snow  lined  about  the  bark  and 
over  the  pack.  The  temperature  is  —  2^  C.  Every- 
thing is  wet  and  far  more  uncomfortable  than  it  is 
when  the  thermometer  is  at  —  20°.  The  captain  and 
Amundsen  have  brought  aboard  two  small  live  pen- 
guins and  turned  them  over  to  Racovitza  for  physio- 
logical experiments.  We  find  it  very  difficult  to 
bring  in  our  game.  It  takes  the  full  force  of  three 
men    to    drag   the   skin    and   blubber    of  one  seal, 

243 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

weighing  perhaps  two  hundred  and  fifty  pounds. 
One  man  cannot  drag  more  than  two  royal  penguins 
on  a  sledge  when  the  snow  is  either  extremely  dry  or 
slightly  humid,  as  it  has  been  for  the  past  few  weeks, 
but  if  the  penguins  are  bunched  and  dragged  on 
their  own  feathers  without  a  sledge,  a  man  is  able  to 
draw  six  with  ease.  The  lesson  which  we  have 
learned  from  this  experience  is  that  sledges,  if 
possible,  should  be  shod  with  a  strip  of  penguin 
skin  with  feathers  attached.  We  are  designing  such 
a  sledge  to-day.  It  is  certainly  the  first  effort  of  the 
kind  on  record  and  we  hope  it  will  prove  useful. 

April  I.  —  The  storm  still  continues  and  the 
barometer  is  steadily  falling,  but  the  wind  is  coming 
in  gusts,  which  is  a  cheerful  indication  that  its  force 
is  nearly  spent.  The  one  food  upon  which  the 
most  unlimited  hatred  has  been  heaped  is  the  fiska- 
bolla.  The  cook  serves  these  on  Fridays,  and  the 
coarse  sarcasm  brought  out  before  and  after  dinner 
is  certainly  remarkable.  In  the  cabin  only  two 
men,  Gerlache  and  Amundsen,  eat  the  soft,  taste- 
less, fiberless,  and  useless  things,  and  they  seem  to 
put  them  away  with  a  grim  relish.  Lecointe  has 
touched  them  but  once  since  crossing  the  Atlantic 
from  Madeira  to  Rio.  Two  weeks  ago  he  made 
a  bet  with  Racovitza,  which  was  supported  by  a 
resolution  to  eat  four  fiskabolla.  Lecointe  lost  and 
selected  April  first  on  which  to  pay  his  forfeit. 
Poor  fellow  !  I  believe  he  would  rather  have  paid  a 
hundred  dollars.  He  ate  the  things,  but  he  suffered 
with  gastric  discomfort  for  a  week,  and  resolved 
forever  afterwards  never  to  touch,  taste,  or  smell 
"embalmed  fish-balls." 

244 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

April  2.  —  The  storm  has  ceased,  and  a  lighter 
wind  is  coming  from  the  south-west.  The  sky  is 
fairly  clear  at  the  zenith,  but  a  bank  of  atmosphere, 
charged  with  fine  ice  crystals,  hangs  over  the  pack 
and  makes  the  horizon  obscure.  The  sun  and  the 
moon,  rising  and  descending  through  this  haze  of 
ice,  are  distorted,  refracted,  and  deflected,  into  all 
sorts  of  curious  fantastic  shapes.  To-night  there 
was  a  parhelion  in  prismatic  colours.  There  was  a 
simple  reproduction  of  the  image  of  the  sun,  one  to 
each  side,  and  the  three  suns  sank  slowly  under  the 
hazy  violet  of  the  horizon.  Soon  after,  the  moon 
rose  through  the  same  haze  of  floating  ice  crystals, 
with  luminous  spots  indicating  crescentic  rings  and 
four  distant  moon  dogs. 

April  3. — The  same  haze  of  suspended  ice  crys- 
tals is  being  driven  over  the  pack,  filling  up  the 
chasms  and  rounding  all  the  sharp  edges  of  the 
hummocks.  The  temperature  is  —  22^  C.  and  the 
wind  is  due  south,  sending  the  ice-laden  clouds  over 
the  crusted  snow  with  a  metallic  ring.  As  the  sun 
rose  through  this  mist  this  morning  we  saw  a  variety 
of  parhelia,  with  bright  crescentic  patches,  chang- 
ing rapidly  in  brilliancy  and  form  as  the  sun 
ascended.  At  four  in  the  afternoon  the  moon  rose 
again  through  this  icy  mist.  In  colour  and  form 
it  was  the  most  remarkable  lunar  aspect  I  ever  saw. 
First,  as  it  came  over  the  horizon,  its  size  seemed  so 
much  above  what  we  were  accustomed  to  that  we 
did  not  easily  guess  it  was  the  moon.  After  it  rose 
clear  of  the  ice-line  it  took  a  wrinkled,  distorted  form, 
which  in  shape  and  colour  resembled  an  old  withered 
orange. 

245 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

April  4. — There  has  been  a  great  excitement  to 
day  —  one  which  has  forced  a  new  interest  into  the 
usual  sameness  of  the  daily  dry  routine.  The  wood- 
work about  the  pipe  of  the  cabin  stove  became 
ignited,  and  for  a  few  seconds  there  was  a  cry  of 
"fire"  and  a  great  scramble  for  water.  Amund- 
sen, with  admirable  presence  of  mind,  drew  out 
the  pipe  from  the  deck  and  then  smothered  the 
flames  with  snow,  while  the  rest  of  us  hustled 
about  for  water,  which  is  always  scarce  on  the 
Belgica.  The  captain  was  able  to  g'et  an  ob- 
servation of  the  sun  to-day  at  noon,  from  which 
he  fixes  our  position  at  latitude  71°  22'  15^^  longi- 
tude 84°  54'  45'^  A  sounding  was  made  which 
proved  the  depth  of  the  sea  530  metres.  Although 
the  sky  has  been  fairly  clear,  at  noon  a  steady  east- 
erly wind  was  driving  over  the  pack,  sending  sharp- 
edged  crystals  across  the  ship  with  a  cutting  force. 
The  temperature  ranges  from  — 17°  to  — 20^  C.  In 
the  past  forty-eight  hours  we  have  drifted  northward 
nine  miles,  and  eastward  about  eight  miles.  The 
wind,  coming  as  it  does  now  with  a  steady  blow, 
will  probably  send  us  drifting  westward  with  a  rapid 
pace. 

April  5. — The  day  opened  doubtfully,  the  sky 
presenting  neither  a  stormy  nor  a  fair  aspect.  There 
is  no  wind,  which  is  a  curious  condition  of  things  for 
this  region  of  eternal  blasts.  The  wind  of  the  past 
few  days  has  rolled  up  great  drifts,  which  give  a 
charm  of  form  in  rounded  irregularities  to  the  sur- 
face of  the  icy  sea.  With  the  sudden  cessation  of 
the    wind,    there    has   been    considerable   pressure 

246 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

which  has  fractured  some  floes  and  raised  great  lines 
of  hummocks  along  the  fissures  and  old  leads.  The 
temperature  is  steadily  falling;  to-day  it  ranges  from 
—  1 8°  to  —  27°  C.  We  saw  little  of  the  sun  except  a 
crimson  burst  at  its  setting,  but  the  moon  has  had 
for  us  a  curious  attraction.  It  is  full,  and  rose  over 
the  north  at  half-past  three  this  afternoon.  The 
purple  twilight  curve  at  this  time  was  feeble  but  dis- 
tinctly visible.  The  moon  rose  slowly  behind  this, 
and  had  the  appearance  of  a  great,  irregular  ball 
of  crude  gold,  but  as  it  rose  above  the  purple  and 
over  the  usual  line  of  orange-red,  which  limits  the 
curve,  it  was  a  full  sharply-cut  globe,  pale  yellow 
and  fresh,  as  though  washed  in  the  polar  whiteness. 
This  was  at  five  o'clock.  The  sun  had  just  sunk 
under  a  line  of  snow  flushed  by  a  rich  rose  colour, 
and  the  sky  above  it,  in  the  west,  was  fired  by  a 
mass  of  feathery  clouds.  As  the  moon  ascended,  all 
of  this  display  of  vivid  colours  faded  into  the  blue 
electric  glow,  which  is  seen  only  over  the  polar  pack. 
By  this  light  we  were  able  to  read  ordinary  print  at 
eleven  o'clock  at  night.  The  heavens  at  this  time 
were  so  bright  that  only  the  stars  to  the  fourth  mag- 
nitude were  visible. 

April  6. — Still  it  blows  from  the  east.  There  is 
now  and  then  an  intermission  for  a  day,  or  a  part  of 
a  day,  when  the  wind  turns  to  the  north  or  the  south, 
but  strong  easterly  winds  prevail.  The  other  winds 
are  hardly  of  sufficient  force  or  duration  to  set  the 
pack  into  motion.  Parhelias  and  paraselenas  are 
now  of  daily  occurrence.  This  morning  at  nine 
o'clock,  when  the  sun  was  over  a  bank  of  drift-snow 

247 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

on  the  horizon,  there  was  first,  a  halo,  then  a  rapidly- 
changing  series  of  sun  dogs ;  generally  two  extra 
suns,  one  to  each  side,  and  all  having  perpendicular 
lines  drawn  through  the  centres.  The  days  are  fad- 
ing rapidly,  and  the  nights  are  lengthening  with  an 
alarming  quickness.  The  life,  too,  is  less  and  less 
in  evidence.  We  now  walk  miles  over  the  desolate 
waste  of  white  expanse  without  seeing  penguins  or 
seals,  where  only  a  few  days  ago  we  saw  great  num- 
bers. There  are  some  tracks  of  animals  which  have 
been  stranded  by  the  closing  of  fissures  and  open 
spaces  of  water.  The  direction  of  these  is  gener- 
ally northward,  or  towards  some  large  iceberg,  where 
there  is  usually  open  water  into  which  the  creatures 
dive  to  seek  a  more  congenial  region  northward, 
where  the  fissures  are  sure  to  be  open.  We  took 
a  ski  excursion  at  noon  to-day,  and  travelled  over 
twelve  miles  without  seeing  a  speck  of  life. 

April  8. —  All  the  leads  and  open  spaces  of  water 
seem  to  have  closed,  and  all  the  snowy  world  about 
us  is  saddened  under  the  increasing  gray  of  the  com- 
ing night.  Lecointe  has  put  up  a  box-shaped  house 
in  which  he  intends  to  make  the  nautical  observations 
for  the  year.  We  of  the  cabin  have  all  given  him  a 
lift  at  his  house-building.  The  commandant  had  a 
hammer  and  nails ;  Racovitza  had  a  saw;  Arctowski 
made  the  plans;  Danco  acted  as  general  director; 
Lecointe  and  I  did  the  horse  work  of  transporting 
the  planks  and  other  material  from  the  ship  to  the 
site  of  the  new  observatory.  We  enjoy  such  little 
tasks  as  pastime  before  and  after  our  regular  scien- 
tific observations  and  official  duties.     It  took  us  one 

248 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

day  to  build  the  captain's  house,  but  it  was  inar- 
tistic in  shape,  unstable  in  its  setting,  and  the  wind 
blew  through  it,  making  drafts  and  an  interior  at- 
mosphere colder  than  that  of  the  open  expanse 
outside.  We  next  covered  it  with  tar  paper  and 
anchored  it  by  banking  and  burying  the  structure 
under  snow.  The  captain  made  his  first  observation 
in  the  new  house  to-night.  He  sighted  two  stars, 
came  in,  and  rather  hastily  said,  ''  It  is  splendid," 
but  shortly  after  I  was  called  upon  to  attend  to  two 
frozen  fingers.  This  is  the  first  result  of  our  newly 
constructed  shelter. 

April  9. —  It  is  the  birthday  of  King  Leopold,  of 
the  Belgians,  to-day.  The  commandant  has  made  it 
a  holiday  and  ordered  a  special  menu  with  a  liberal 
supply  of  wine  to  the  officers  and  crew.  All  are 
expected  to  celebrate  the  day  in  good  form.  We 
enjoy  these  days  of  rest,  recreation,  and  change 
from  the  usual  formula  of  regular  work,  and  we  con- 
scientiously point  out,  far  in  advance,  the  legal  holi- 
days of  all  lands  and  the  birthdays  of  each  of  the  men 
of  the  Belgica.  It  is  a  slow  week  when  we  have  not 
succeeded  in  having  at  least  one  day  set  aside  as  a 
period  of  special  feeding,  followed  by  a  flow  of  cham- 
pagne. **  All  honor  to  the  King  "  is  the  voice  of  the 
Belgica  to-day.  His  picture  is  in  a  prominent  place 
in  the  dining-room,  and  his  name  is  on  every  tongue. 
If  His  Majesty  could  hear  the  flattering  toasts,  the 
words  of  loyalty  and  praise,  the  genuine  feeling  of 
good  fellowship  which  now  rings  over  the  new  world 
about  us,  he  would  feel  that  we  were,  one  and  all, 
glad  citizens  of  that  little  land  which  deserves  the 

249 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

credit  of  opening  the  gates  of  antarctic  darkness  and 
mystery.  He  would  and  should  know  that,  though 
we  are  from  many  lands,  we  are  now  proud  subjects 
of  King  Leopold. 

That  we  might  better  mark  the  king's  birthday 
and  remember  it  as  a  period  of  great  rejoicing,  and 
to  arouse  our  sleeping  regard  for  women  we  have 
instituted  a  ''beauty  contest."  Lecointe,  Racovitza, 
and  Amundsen,  I  think,  were  responsible  for  the  in- 
vention. At  any  rate,  anything  suggestive  of  kind, 
tender,  feminine  recollections,  or  of  love  and  poetry, 
is  first  championed  by  one  of  these  gentlemen.  It 
was  so  in  the  **  beauty  contest."  For  several  days 
they  had  been  electioneering  and  pointing  out  the 
special  merits  of  the  women  of  their  choice.  The 
pick  has  been  made  from  the  illustrations  of  a  Paris 
journal,  illustrating  women  famous  for  graces  of 
form  and  manner,  and  public  notoriety.  Nearly 
five  hundred  pictures  were  selected,  representing  all 
kinds  of  poses  and  dress  and  undress,  and  anatomi- 
cal parts  of  women  noted  as  types  of  beauty.  The 
result  of  this  concourse  Is  shown  in  the  following 
official  record  of  the  great  event:  — 


250 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

ANNOUNCEMENT   BY 

THE   MINISTER   OF   ARTS,    FEMININE   BEAUTY,  AND 
PUBLIC   WORKS 

GRAND    CONCOURSE  OF  BEAUTIFUL  WOMEN 

ORGANISED   IN   THE   COLD   ANTARCTIC,   HELD 
UNDER  THE  AUSPICES   OF 

S.  M.  ARTOCHO  I.— KING  OF  THE  POLAR  ZONE 

AND 

S.   A.    ROALD,   PRINCE    OF    THE    KYODBOLLA 


FIRST  PART. — Total  of  Votes  for  the  Most  Beautiful 

Women. 


Description  for  Balloting. 


First 

Second 

Third 

Prize. 

Prize. 

Prize. 

2«;2 

217 

2l8 

183 

326 

339 

391 

323 

260 

306 

245 

264 

94 

88 

210 

209 

230 

319 

47 

463 

lOI 

134 

180 

"""" 

274 

404 

391 

208 

397 

405 

288 

291 

290 

I.  Poses  plastiques 

II.  Disposition  (dreamy,  fond  of  flattery)  . 

III.  Appearance,  common 

IV.  Rosy  complexion 

V.  Irreproachable  character 

VI.  Grace,  personified 

VII.  Elegant  appearance  (sweet  disposition) 

VIII.  Underclothing 

IX.  Most  artistic  poses 

X.  Sporty  girls 

XI.  Most  graceful  dancers 


PART  SECOND. 


•Total  of  Votes  on  the  Excellence  of 
Special  Parts 


Description  for  Balloting. 


I.  The  most  beautiful  face  .... 
II.  Luxuriant  hair 

III.  Flashing  eyes 

IV.  Mouth  (Cupid's  bow)      .... 
V.  Shapely  hands  (tapering  fingers) 

VI.  Arms 

VII.  Sloping,  alabaster  shoulders  .    . 

VIII.  Supple  waist 

IX.  Les  jambes 

X.  Feet 


First 
Prize. 


94 
308 
312 

309 
311 
212 
212 
218 
209 


Second   Third 
Prize.     Prize. 


479 
320 

88 

88 

217 


217 


480 
282 


191 


251 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 


PART  THREE.  —  Each  voter  must  accept  the  woman  who  is 

selected  by  his  companions  as  most  suitable  for 

his  welfare,  happiness,  etc. 


Gerlache 94 

Melaerts 191 

Lecointe 209 

Cook SS 


Danco 282 

Amundsen 256 

Racovitza 64 

Arctowski 392 


PART  FOUR.  — The  umpires  will   decide   which   girl   will   be 

likely  to  be  preferred  by  the  various  "  Wandering 

Willies  "  of  the  expedition. 

PRIZE  OF  HONOUR 

The  prize  of  honour  will  be  given  to  the  most  beautiful  woman 
— the  one  having  obtained  the  largest  number  of  votes. 

GENERAL  CONDITIONS 

The  photographs  of  the  "  Beauties  "  to  enter  into  the  contest  are 
filed  in  the  "  Minister's  "  book.  There  are  four  hundred  and 
sixty-four  (464)  pictures,  charms,  delights  and  fascinations, 
but  voters  are  cautioned  not  to  become  too  enthusiastic  or 
overheated.  Those  carrying  photographs  (of  favoured  ones) 
in  their  pockets  and  pinned  to  their  vests,  as  nearly  as  possible 
to  their  hearts,  may  submit  them  for  inspection  to  the  "  Min- 
ister." 

It  is  hoped  that  the  elections  will  be  honourable,  but  "  all  is  fair 
in  love  and  war,"  and  in  the  "  Ladyless  South,"  swindling  of  all 
kinds  is  allowable  providing  it  is  in  an  honourable  cause. 


Distribution  of  the  Prizes 

On  the  arrival  of  the  Belgica  in  port  the  Minister  will  send  the 
diploma,  drawn  by  the  "  King's  "  own  hand,  to  the  fortunate 
winners  of  the  prizes.  The  presentation  of  the  prizes  is  con- 
ditional upon  the  later  appearance  of  the  woman  before  the 
committee  to  exhibit  the  parts  for  which  ballot  has  been  cast, 
not  for  re-examination,  but  to  obtain  an  official  photograph. 

(Signed) 
Raconevipadeca,  President  of  the  "Pack  Loafers." 

Lecointwhisky,  Minister  of  the  Land  of  Beautiful 
Women,  and  *'  Lady  Specialist." 


252 


CHAPTER   XIX 

THE   FADING  DAYS  OF  THE  AUTUMN 
(continued) 

April  io. — Yesterday  the  wind  was  from  the 
east  and  it  came  with  a  maddening  hiss.  To-day  it 
is  from  the  south,  still,  sharp,  and  icy.  There  is  a 
great  commotion  in  the  ice.  Old  leads  have  again 
opened  and  widened,  new  fissures  have  formed,  and 
there  is  a  distinct  swell  noticeable  in  the  steady,  regu- 
lar shift  of  the  ice-floes.  About  the  ship  the  ice  is 
much  crevassed,  and  less  than  one  hundred  yards 
away  there  is  opening  a  new  lead,  which  is  now 
forty  feet  wide.  We  saw  in  this  lead  two  finback 
whales  and  several  seals.  Seals  and  whales  have 
been  heard  blowing  most  of  the  day.  While  taking  a 
usual  evening  excursion  over  the  floes  I  saw,  to-night, 
two  distinct  fragments  of  an  arc  aurora  in  the  south- 
east. The  thing  remarkable  about  this  aurora  was  its 
colour.  It  began  as  two  faint,  luminous  patches, 
crescentic  in  form.  There  was  a  rapid  play  of  light 
in  these  from  a  pale,  pearly  glow  to  a  vivid  cream 
color,  but  the  most  wonderful  of  all  was  the  glisten- 
ing green  shade  to  which  it  changed  for  a  few  sec- 
onds just  before  it  disappeared.     The  same  aurora 

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THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

reappeared  at  about  half-past  eight  in  the  evening, 
but  it  was  white  and  dull. 

It  is  Easter  Sunday.  We  have  been  up  most  of 
the  night  trying  to  settle  the  many  disputes  which 
have  arisen  out  of  the  ''  beauty  contest."  It  is  so  long 
since  we  have  seen  a  girl  that  I  doubt  our  ability  to 
pass  judgment  on  the  charms  of  beautiful  women. 
On  the  whole,  though,  we  have  not  come  to  any  defi- 
nite conclusions  except  that  the  Princess  de  Chimay 
and  Cleo  de  Merode  are  voted  by  the  majority  to 
be  the  world's  most  beautiful  women.  The  excite- 
ment of  the  contest  has  been  such  that  a  new  life  and 
a  new  stream  of  ideas  are  coming  over  our  frosty  spir- 
its. To-day  we  talk  of  sweethearts,  of  sisters,  of 
mothers,  and  of  home.  For  a  time  we  have  forgotten 
the  never  ceasing  sameness  of  storm-beaten  pack- 
ice  and  our  uncertain  future.  Our  minds  and  our 
hearts  are  homeward,  and  it  is  a  good  change  in  the 
drift  of  sentiments.  We  can  ill  afford  to  go  into  the 
spell  of  the  long,  unknowable  night  with  the  air  of 
despondency  which  has  fogged  our  mental  energy 
for  the  past  few  weeks.  Easter  Sunday  should  bring 
new  joys  and  the  poetry  of  the  budding  passions  of 
spring.  The  artificial  hilarity  of  last  night  has  placed 
us  in  an  easy  mood  for  a  new  period  of  fresh  pleas- 
ures. 

But  how  different  is  our  lot  to  that  of  the  usual 
Easter  worshipper  !  The  seasons  are  here  reversed. 
We  have  not  behind  us  the  winter  storms  and  cold  dis- 
comforts. We  have  not  before  us  the  evident  joys  of  a 
coming  summer;  sweet  smelling  flowers,  green  fields, 
pretty  girls  in  new  bonnets,   and  the  hundreds  of 

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ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

things  which  go  to  make  up  the  accustomed  pleasures 
of  Easter  are  all  far  removed  from  us.  We  are  on  the 
verge  of  what  promises  to  be  the  worst  winter  on 
record.  The  faint  delights  of  summer  are  behind. 
The  desperation,  the  despondency,  the  mystery  of  the 
unknown,  impenetrable  darkness,  with  its  ceaseless 
frost,  is  on  the  horizon.  Hellish  storms  with  icy 
vapours  are  almost  constantly  sweeping  over  us. 
There  is  not  a  rock  or  anything  suggestive  of  land 
within  many  hundreds  of  miles,  and  there  is  not  a 
tree  or  flowering  plant  within  thousands  of  miles. 
Nearly  one-third  of  the  circumference  of  the  globe 
is  between  us  and  our  loved  ones  at  home.  Under 
such  circumstances,  far  away  from  the  world  of  life, 
isolated  from  accustomed  comforts,  on  a  sea  of  mov- 
ing ice,  in  a  dead,  white  world  of  eternal  frigidity, 
how  can  we  enjoy  Easter?  We  try  hard  to  arouse 
a  buoyant  spirit,  and  each  has  taken  it  upon  himself 
to  bring  out  the  bright  side  of  the  one  nearest  to 
him,  but  our  efforts  are  poorly  rewarded.  For 
after  superficial  laughter  we  sink  into  a  lethargy 
which  becomes  more  and  more  normal  to  us  as  the 
winter  and  the  night  advance.  Some  one  has  said 
we  want  only  our  home  surroundings,  some  loving 
women,  fresh  food,  a  few  flowers,  and  our  lot  will  be 
happy.  I  believe  this,  but  I  also  beheve  it  is  just 
these  which  are  all  that  is  required  to  make  Hell 
agreeable  to  the  average  man. 

April  II. — The  ice  is  spreading,  leaving  large 
open  lanes  in  which  we  see  whales,  seals,  and  pen- 
guins. The  day  is  clear  with  a  very  light  air  from 
the  south-west.     Four  white  petrels  are  about  the 

255 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

ship,  and  far  out  over  the  leads  we  observe  a  few  giant, 
and  some  spotted  brown,  or  antarctic  petrels.  Aside 
from  our  usual  work  of  making  observations,  and 
recording  the  passing  conditions  of  weather,  and  life, 
and  ice,  we  have  begun  to  house  the  Belgica.  The 
sailors  have,  for  a  long  time,  been  building  a  wall  of 
blocks  of  snow  about  the  bark.  The  great  quantity 
of  drift-snow  during  the  past  few  weeks  has  evened 
this  up  to  the  gunwales,but  the  decks  are  still  too  open 
and  permit,  unnecessarily,  the  escape  of  the  heat  from 
our  stoves.  It  will  be  necessary  to  economise  greatly 
with  fuel,  for  we  have  now  hardly  sufficient  to  give 
full  steam  for  fifteen  days.  The  poop  remains 
buried  under  a  bed  of  snow  and  ice  two  feet  thick, 
and  most  of  the  windows  are  being  closed  because 
there  is  already  upon  the  glass  too  much  conden- 
sation of  frost  to  permit  light  to  enter.  Amidships  we 
are  building  a  shed  to  permit  a  sheltered  passage 
from  the  cabin  to  the  laboratory.  This  will  be  covered 
by  snow,  and  under  it  the  engineer  will  erect  a  smith- 
shop  in  which  to  make  iron  repairs  to  the  Belgica 
and  the  various  articles  of  equipment.  Heretofore 
it  has  been  difficult  to  get  out  because  of  the  great 
quantities  of  snow  which  has  buried  everything  on 
deck.  We  hope  the  new  shed  will  eliminate  this 
misery  which  almost  forbids  our  disembarkment. 
We  have  found  it  necessary  to  make  double  storm 
doors  and  double  windows  to  prevent  sudden  changes 
in  interior  temperatures.  By  experience  it  has  been 
found  that  ventilation  through  small  pipes  from  cor- 
ners of  the  rooms  is  the  best.  If  the  windows  or 
doors  are  opened  a  volume  of  cold  air  rushes  in,  and 

256 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

at  once  everything  is  wet  from  the  condensation 
out  of  the  air  by  sudden  chilling.  If  I  were  to 
sum  up  in  two  words  the  things  which  in  polar 
regions  bring  about  the  greatest  amount  of  suffering, 
I  would  say  humidity  and  isolation.  We  try  in  every 
possible  way,  in  the  cut  of  our  garments,  in  the 
construction  of  our  winter  quarters,  and  in  the 
arrangement  of  our  sleeping  apartments  to  eliminate 
moisture,  but  our  success  is  small.  If  we  drop  our 
hands  behind  our  beds  a  weight  of  frost  falls  with  a 
metallic  tingle.  If  the  mattress  is  removed  every  nail 
is  found  to  be  covered  with  ice.  Both  Racovitza  and 
Danco  vow  that  they  have  icebergs  as  bedfellows,  and 
when  one  goes  between  decks  there  is  always  suffi- 
cient hoar-frost  falling  down  one's  back  to  keep  up  a 
warm  volley  of  words.  My  room  mate  frequently 
opens  the  port  and  forgets  to  close  it  when  the  wind 
changes:  consequently  we  have  to  shovel  a  bank 
of  snow  out  of  our  beds  every  second  or  third 
day.  If  we  could  only  get  rid  of  this  infernal 
humidity  which  plagues  and  follows  us  like  an  agent 
of  Satan,  and  if  we  could  take  a  run  to  a  civilised  town 
once  monthly  so  that  we  might  absorb  a  new  train  of 
thoughts,  life  would  be  bearable.  Certainly  the  cold 
is  not  a  cause  of  serious  suffering  in  the  antarctic, 
for  I  have  shivered  more  in  New  York. 

April  12. —  Snow  is  falling  in  huge  flakes.  The 
temperature  is  now  rising,  but  during  the  night  it  fell 
to  —23.5^  C.  The  wind  is  east-north-east.  The  ice 
continues  to  separate,  but  we  have  seen  no  life  to-day. 
We  are  still  at  work  housing  the  Belgica  and  fitting 
the  cabins  for  the  long  imprisonment.     It  is  warm, 

257 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

and  dull,  and  gloomy,  making  the  air  on  board  un- 
endurable. Everything  about  the  decks  and  the 
doors  is  moist,  and  the  coating  of  hoar-frost,  which 
yesterday  made  every  nail  and  every  bit  of  iron 
sparkle,  is  melting,  making  the  floors,  the  table,  and 
the  chairs  uncomfortably  wet. 

April  14. —  The  wind  has  veered  to  the  south- 
east and  is  coming  with  increasing  force  charged 
with  a  dry  sand-like  snow  which  cuts  the  skin  like 
a  knife.  Temperature,  6  a.m.,  —8°;  10  a.m.,  —19°. 
We  saw  two  finback  whales  and  one  snow  petrel.  As 
is  always  the  case  when  the  air  is  charged  with  drift 
snow,  we  have  a  variety  of  sun  and  moon  dogs  to- 
day. At  7  P.M.  there  was  in  the  south-east  an  unu- 
sual aurora.  It  was  an  arc  with  steady  brilliancy, 
and  to  the  westward  were  fragments  of  two  addi- 
tional arcs. 

April  15. —  To-night  we  saw  an  aurora  of  ex- 
actly the  same  form  as  last  night,  in  the  same  posi- 
tion, appearing  first  at  the  same  hour.  The  zenith 
has  been  clear,  but  the  horizon  has  been  hazed  by 
the  suspended  ice  specular  which  again  made  a 
countless  number  of  sun  and  moon  halos,  parhelias, 
and  paraselenes. 

April  16. —  In  this  shiftless  sea  of  ice  everything 
depends  upon  the  wind.  If  it  is  south,  we  have 
steady,  clear,  cold  weather.  If  it  is  north  we  have  a 
warm,  humid  air  with  snow  and  unsettled  weather.  If 
it  is  east  or  west  it  brings  a  tempest  with  great  quan- 
tities of  driving  snow ;  but  it  never  ceases  blowing. 
It  is  blow,  blow,  from  all  points  of  the  compass.  It 
is  because  of  this  importance  of  the  wind,  because 

258 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

It  is  the  key-note  to  the  day  which  follows,  that  our 
first  question  in  the  morning  is  ''  how  is  the  wind?" 
To-day  it  is  east,  and  has  increased  to  a  gale,  in  which 
it  is  absolutely  impossible  to  take  even  a  short  walk 
on  the  pack.  For  recreation  we  have  taken  to 
mending.  Racovitza  is  patching  his  pantaloons  for 
the  tenth  time.  This,  he  says,  will  be  the  last  time, 
and  I  think  he  is  right,  for  he  has  used  leather  to 
strengthen  all  the  weak  parts.  Amundsen  is  patch- 
ing boots  ;  Lecointe  is  mending  instruments  ;  Danco 
and  I  are  trying  to  repair  watches.  Nearly  all  of 
our  good  timepieces  are  out  of  commission.  Our 
hands  are  better  adapted  for  the  trade  of  a  black- 
smith than  that  of  a  jeweller,  but  we  are  trying  hard 
and  have,  to  some  extent,  succeeded.  Just  at  pres- 
ent it  is  the  crystals  which  we  wish  to  replace.  We 
have  no  extra  glasses,  but  we  have  found  some  small 
pocket  compasses  with  crystals  too  small.  How  can 
we  make  them  fit?  Danco  said,  "Try  sealing  wax," 
which  we  did.  We  covered  half  of  the  watch  and 
a  good  part  of  the  crystal  and  thus  made  a  very 
effective  job,  but  in  appearance  it  is  a  woeful  object. 
April  20. —  The  easterly  storm  which  has  raged 
unceasingly  for  a  week,  and  almost  continuously  for 
a  month,  shows  some  signs  this  morning  of  ceasing. 
At  4  A.M.  the  barometer  began  to  rise,  and  the  tem- 
perature fell  to—  2°  C.  The  wind  shifted  to  the  north- 
east, but  its  force  was  soon  spent.  During  the  day 
the  wind  came  only  in  intermittent  puffs.  The 
mouse-coloured  clouds  separated,  permitting  an  oc- 
casional sunburst  to  light  up  the  awful  gloom  which 
has  so  long  hung  over  us.     To-night,  at  ten  o'clock, 

259 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

it  is  actually  calm,  and  snow  is  falling  lightly  in  huge, 
feathery  flakes.  This  sudden  calmness  and  dark 
unbroken  silence,  after  the  many  days  of  boisterous 
gales,  instill  within  us  a  curious  sensation.  The  ship 
no  longer  quivers  and  groans.  The  ropes  about 
the  rigging  have  ceased  their  discordant  music,  and 
the  floes  do  not  utter  the  usual  nerve-despairing 
screams.  This  sudden  stillness,  seemingly  increased 
by  the  falling  snow,  brings  to  us  a  notion  of  impend- 
ing danger. 

April  2  1. —  The  night  and  the  morning  contin- 
ued calm.  What  a  relief  to  be  able  to  step  out  upon 
the  open  expanse  of  the  frozen  sea  without  being 
pounded,  and  battered,  and  smothered  with  needle- 
like ice  cystals  driven  by  these  damnable  storms  !  We 
are  all  out  on  the  pack  to-day  to  get  a  breath  of  air 
in  comfort  and  to  see  once  more  the  height  of  the  sky 
and  the  broadness  of  the  horizon.  This  polar  under- 
part  of  the  world  is  decidedly  unfit  for  human  life,  for 
it  is  seemingly  the  part  which  receives  the  kicks  of  the 
angered  spirits  as  the  globe  passes  through  space. 
The  temperature  has  fallen  from  —3^  this  morning  to 
—  1 7°  at  eight  to-night.  The  sun  has  struggled  to 
pierce  the  heavy  cloud  of  ice  crystals  which  rests  on 
the  pack,  but  its  efforts  have  been  rewarded  only  by 
prismatic  effects.  Halos,  and  parhelias,  and  fog-bows 
have  been  on  the  sky  most  of  the  day ;  the  warmth 
of  direct  beams,  however,  has  not  been  felt.  For 
two  days  we  had  seen  no  life,  but  to-day  we  heard 
a  whale  spout,  and  saw  two  white  petrels. 

At  noon  the  sun  was  visible  behind  a  screen  of  sus- 
pended ice  particles.     Its  edges  were  barely  percep- 

260 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

tible,  but  the  captain  tried  an  observation  to  find  our 
location  on  this  unknown  sea.  The  result  of  the  cal- 
culations was  latitude  71°  03'  18''.  The  sun  is  now 
extremely  unreliable  as  a  fixed  point  to  find  our  po- 
sitions. It  is  so  low  on  the  horizon  at  noon  that, 
owing  to  the  great  refi-action  caused  by  the  increased 
depth  of  the  atmosphere  and  the  increased  refractive 
quality  of  the  air  at  this  temperature,  it  is  difficult  to 
make  the  necessary  corrections.  From  this  time  on, 
until  the  sun  rises  higher  next  summer,  Captain  Le- 
cointe  will  use  the  stars  to  get  positions. 

April  22. —  During  the  night  there  was  another 
fall  of  snow  of  about  two  inches.  This  morning  the 
sky  was  dull  and  gray.  The  air  continues  calm, 
which  is  remarkable,  but  because  of  the  unstability 
of  the  barometer  and  the  persistent  gloominess  of 
the  sky  we  anticipate  another  storm  presently.  At 
noon  we  felt  coming,  this  time  from  the  north,  the  first 
breath  of  this  promised  gale.  It  swept  the  pack  with 
a  blackness  and  a  moisture  which  are  characteristic 
of  northerly  winds.  The  temperature  ranges  from 
—  6°  to  —9°  C.  The  ice  is  in  considerable  agitation; 
old  leads  are  closing  and  new  ones  are  opening, 
with  a  direction  almost  due  north.  We  made  a 
sounding  at  two  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  hoping 
that  the  night  would  be  clear  enough  to  permit 
an  observation  for  position,  but  the  night  is  cloudy, 
which  makes  the  work  of  sounding  useless.  The 
captain  has  figured  out  the  declination  of  the  com- 
pass for  our  position  of  yesterday  and  finds  it  to  be 
38°  l"]'  east  of  north. 

April  25. —  It  has  been  a  charming,  clear  day,  with 

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THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

only  a  few  stratus  clouds  along  the  horizon,  and  a 
light,  pearly  mist  rising  in  a  straight  line  from  the  ice. 
Several  times  during  the  day  we  saw  parts  of  a  white 
rainbow  or  fog-eater.  The  photographs  which  we 
now  take  prove  that  the  light  is  feeble,  though  seem- 
ingly bright.  It  is  quite  impossible  to  make  good 
negatives  at  the  present  time.  This,  I  believe,  is  due 
not  only  to  the  feebleness  of  the  light,  but  to  the 
glancing  direction  of  the  rays,  the  yellowness  of  their 
colour,  and  the  fact  that  the  beams  of  light  strike  the 
snow  at  such  an  angle  that  they  glance  off  into  space, 
and  make  the  atmosphere  itself  partly  luminous, 
which  destroys  the  plates. 

The  pack  is  again  apparently  at  rest ;  the  new 
leads  and  lakes  are  covered  with  young  ice,  which  is 
frosted  by  a  beautiful  growth  of  flowery  bunches  of 
hoar-frost.  These  leads,  in  the  present  yellow  light, 
have  assumed  a  most  intense  green  colour,  and  as 
they  wind  about  the  blue  ice-walls  and  the  cream- 
coloured  floes  the  scene  becomes  entrancing.  The 
temperature  this  morning  was  —21°  C;  to-night,  at 
nine,  it  is  —27.5°  C.  There  is  a  feeble  arc  aurora  in 
the  usual  position.  Its  brightness  is  about  like  that 
of  the  milky- way,  and  this  is  the  average  strength 
of  most  antarctic  auroras.  Our  position  is  daily  get- 
ting to  be  of  greater  interest.  This  is  shown  by  our 
attention  to  the  work  of  the  captain  and  others  upon 
whom  we  depend  to  tell  us  where,  in  this  aimless 
drift,  we  are  pointing.  When  Captain  Lecointe 
goes  out  to  ''shoot"  the  stars  we  await  his  return  with 
some  impatience,  and,  though  he  cannot  at  once  give 
us  the  exact  figures,  we  are  inquisitive  to  learn  quickly 

262 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

his  guesses  at  the  amount  of  the  latest  drift,  but  he 
must  often  stamp  and  kick,  and  we  must  punch  and 
rub  him,  to  start  his  circulation  before  he  can  talk. 

An  electric  signal  has  been  arranged  so  that  Dob- 
rowolski,  who  assists  Lecointe,  can  remain  in  a 
comfortable  stateroom  with  the  chronometer  to  fix  the 
time  for  the  observations.  The  captain  has  ex- 
hausted every  ingenuity  to  make  the  work  as  agree- 
able as  possible,  but  there  seems  to  be  no  way  to 
lessen  materially  his  own  discomforts  while  sighting 
the  stars.  The  observatory  is  sheltered  from  the 
wind,  but  the  air  in  it  is  just  as  cold  as  that  out- 
side. To-night  the  temperature  was  almost  —28° 
during  the  time  of  the  observation.  The  diffi- 
culty of  keeping  the  teeth  from  chattering,  the 
eyes  from  quivering,  or  the  instruments  from  shak- 
ing, can  be  more  easily  imagined  than  explained. 
Danco  came  in  after  making  his  sights  with  a  frosted 
foot,  and  with  a  piece  of  skin,  torn  from  his 
eye,  frozen  to  the  metal  of  the  eye-piece  of  his  in- 
strument. Lecointe  lost  some  of  his  eye-lashes,  and 
a  bit  of  his  ear  was  white.  Both  Danco  and  Le- 
cointe have  resolved  to  cover  the  metal  parts  of  all 
instruments  with  flannel  in  the  future,  and  from  them 
we  have  copied  the  idea  and  covered  the  metallic 
portions  of  everything  we  use  for  our  work  outside. 
It  is,  however,  an  almost  daily  occurrence  to  have 
men  come  to  me  with  fingers  "  burnt,"  as  they  ex- 
press it,  by  contact  with  bits  of  cold  metal.  One 
sailor,  who  was  at  work  between  decks  nailing  up 
cases  containing  geological  specimens,  placed  two 
nails  in  his  mouth.     He  snatched  them  out  quickly, 

263 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

bringing  along  bits  of  his  tongue  and  lip,  and  leav- 
ing ugly  wounds  which  in  character  were  exactly  like 
the  injuries  of  a  hot  iron.  The  sailors  who  have 
metallic  pegs  in  their  boots  claim  that  ice-caps  form 
under  their  feet.  This  I  have  taken  as  a  sailor's 
yarn,  but  to-night  I  went  on  deck  in  slippers ;  on  re- 
turning my  stockings  were  thoroughly  wet, —  remov- 
ing the  slippers  to  discover  the  source  of  humidity 
I  saw  about  a  dozen,  glistening  caps  of  ice  that 
had  formed  over  nails  which  had  been  carelessly 
driven  through  the  soles.  These  things  seem  in- 
credible, but  similar  instances  are  repeated  daily. 

But  I  have  started  out  to-night  to  write,  not  of 
the  little  nothings  which  really  do  make  up  the  bulk 
of  our  work  and  pastime,  but  of  the  more  serious 
drift  of  the  Belgica.  We  are  going  westerly  with  a 
steady  and  rapid  gait,  and  though  we  drift  frequently 
northward,  our  general  progress  is  also  at  times  slowly 
southward.  Where  will  we  be  when  the  thaw  of 
next  summer  shall  set  us  free  ?  Since  the  first  of 
March,  when  our  position  was  latitude  71°  04'  45'', 
longitude  85*^  26',  we  have  gone  a  zigzag  course  west- 
erly, now  above  the  71  parallel,  now  below  it,  but  gen- 
erally west,  until  at  present  our  situation  is  latitude 
70°  50'  15'',  longitude  92^  21'  30''.  We  have  thus, 
in  less  than  two  months  drifted  westward  about 
seven  degrees  of  longitude.  We  are  curious  to 
know  whether  this  drift  will  continue,  or  whether 
the  prevailing  winds  of  the  coming  winter  will 
send  us  adrift  in  another  direction.  Almost  with- 
out knowing  it,  without  setting  sails,  and  without 

264 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

steam,  we  have  made  a  snaky  course  of  about 
five  hundred  miles  over  an  unknown  sea.  This  is 
pecuhar  navigation.  We  have  seen  nothing  move, 
there  has  been  no  fixed  point  to  indicate  our  drift, 
and  we  cannot  see  that  we  pass  through  the  water 
because  the  entire  horizon,  the  countless  fields  and 
mountains  of  ice,  slide  with  us  at  the  same  rate  of 
speed.  We  are  carried  along  with  the  restless  pack, 
slowly  but  steadily,  with  majestic  ease,  against  our 
desires,  without  seasickness,  always  on  and  on  in 
response  to  the  ever  furious  winds.  This  is  explor- 
ing under  difficulties  because  we  are  absolutely  help- 
less to  direct  our  course,  but  we  hope  that  the  Hand 
of  Nature  will  guide  us  to  some  interesting  region. 

Our  drift  has  already  proven  geographical  prob- 
lems of  considerable  interest.  We  are  now  drifting 
two  degrees  south  of  the  assigned  position  of  Peter 
Island,  and  we  have  seen  no  definite  signs  of  land. 
This  proves  that  the  island  is  not  one  of  an  archi- 
pelago, extending  far  south  and  guarding  closely 
a  continental  mass  of  land  as  might  have  been 
supposed.  The  freedom  with  which  we  drift  here, 
and  the  absence  of  unusual  pressure,  warrants  the 
assertion  that  there  is  no  land  of  sufficient  extent  to 
check  the  drift  of  the  pack  within  a  hundred  miles. 
We  have  now  sailed  with  the  bergs  and  the  floating 
crust  of  the  earth  over  a  sea  about  500  metres  deep, 
through  a  region  where  John  Murray  has  placed  a 
hypothetical  continent.  Murray's  "Antarctica,"  if  it 
exists,  must  be  reduced  in  size,  for  we  have  sailed  over 
it  without  finding  a  projecting  rock.    We  have,  in  our 

265 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

helpless  drift,  been  forced  soutll  of  Bellingshausen's 
farthest,  and  are  now  headed  for  Wilke's  "'appear- 
ance af  land  "  and  Captain  Cook's  historic  farthest. 
Perhaps  if  we  were  able  to  direct  the  vessel  we  could 
not  more  effectually  explore  these  regions.  May 
the  elements  which  have  sent  us  thus  far  continue  to 
guard  and  push  us  forward! 


Arctowski  and  Amundsen  ready  for  a  stroll 


CHAPTER  XX 

THE   DAYS   OF   TWILIGHT   PRECEDING  THE 
LONG   NIGHT 

April  26. — The  sky  is  again  hazed,  the  baro- 
meter is  falling,  and  the  temperature  has  risen  from 
—  21°  at  8  a.m.  to  —2°  at  3  p.m.  We  made  a  sound- 
ing and  found  the  depth  410  metres.  During  the 
day  Racovitza  lowered  his  paraphernalia  to  fish  sub- 
marine life  for  the  laboratory.  We  had  hardly  lost 
the  effects  of  the  last  storm  and  were  beginning  to 
enjoy  the  clear  steady  weather,  with  the  light 
southerly  winds,  but  to-day  there  is  another  storm. 
The  sun  burst  through  the  high  fog  at  ten  o'clock 
this  morning,  but  her  rays  were  too  feeble  to  dis- 
solve the  cold  vapours.  Quickly  the  only  bright 
spot  of  heavenly  glory  was  smothered  by  cold  leaden 
clouds  coming  from  the  darkness  of  the  north-west. 
This  we  knew  to  be  an  announcement  of  the  coming 
of  dirty  weather  from  that  direction.  For  five  days 
the  barometer  has  steadily  risen,  but  this  morning 
it  began  to  fall  and  in  this  descent  we  read  the 
story  of  another  week  of  trouble.  Violent  winds, 
in  conjunction  with  the  noise,  the  gloomy  darkness, 
and  forbidding  exterior  conditions,  will  set  up  a  spirit 

267 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

of  discontent  and  melancholy,  followed  by  insomnia 
and  disturbances  of  digestion.  I  suppose,  however, 
we  should  not  complain,  for  these  gales  carry  us 
along  on  interesting  journeys  where  no  other  human 
eyes  have  before  scanned  the  horizon. 

April  28. —  It  is  a  neutral  gray  day.  There  is 
no  sun  and  nothing  to  arouse  an  interest  in  life. 
The  atmosphere  is  dark,  warm,  wet,  and,  in  general, 
most  disgusting.  The  temperature  is  —  i  °,  but  about 
the  ship  the  snow  has  melted  much,  allowing  the 
Belgica  to  settle  now  and  then  with  a  crack  and  a 
sudden  jar.  The  wind  is  westerly  and  comes  with  a 
steady  rush.  The  ice  is  separating,  leaving  open 
leads  running  north-westerly.  We  saw  several  white 
and  two-spotted  brown  petrels.  The  trawl,  yester- 
day, brought  up  a  mass  of  weird-looking  deep-sea 
creatures  which  Racovitza  is  to-day  stowing  away 
in  alcohol.  In  these  storms  it  is  not  prudent  to  ven- 
ture outside  over  the  pack.  There  are  just  now  too 
many  large  fissures  covered  by  soft  snow-bridges 
which  are  dangerous.  We  have  already  had  several 
cold  baths  by  sliding  through  these  soft  drifts,  and 
a  fatal  accident  might  easily  occur.  With  these 
perils  in  view  we  do  not  risk  going  out  on  the  pack 
for  the  usual  recreation  and  exploring  excursions. 
The  men,  too,  find  it  extremely  difficult  to  keep 
open  a  passage  to  embark.  The  drift  is  such  that 
it  requires  the  constant  efforts  of  one  and  sometimes 
of  two  men  to  dig  a  path.  It  is  irritating  that  the 
drifts  are  usually  a  few  feet  from  the  side  of  the 
bark  where  they  do  not  give  the  needed  shelter, 
while  the  excellent  wall  of  snow  which  the  men  have 

268 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

placed  around  is  again  mostly  melted  or  settled 
to  such  an  extent  that  it  must  all  be  done  again. 
On  board,  the  naturalist  has  several  mysterious 
creatures  from  the  bottom  of  the  sea,  under  the 
microscope.  The  geologist  is  packing  away  the 
stones  picked  from  the  new  land  a  few  months  ago. 
The  captain  and  the  commandant  are  laying  out 
the  chart  of  the  discoveries  and  we  are  all  looking 
up  the  bibliography  of  everything  antarctic. 

April  30. —  It  is  snowing  and  blowing  still,  but  the 
temperature  is  again  falling.  It  is  dark  and  gloomy 
and  humid  outside.  We  begin  to  think  that  the  sun, 
and  the  moon,  and  the  stars  have  deserted  us,  leav- 
ing us  alone  in  a  cold,  howling  wilderness.  We  saw  a 
few  white  petrels  hovering  over  large  lakes  of  inky 
waters,  which  the  change  in  our  drift  has  made  from 
the  wide  leads  of  a  few  days  ago,  but  there  is  no  other 
life.  It  is  now  necessary  to  light  our  lamps  at  three 
o'clock  in  the  afternoon  to  do  ordinary  work  about 
the  vessel.  I  expect  it  will  not  be  long  before  it  will 
be  necessary  to  use  candles  during  our  midday  meal. 
To-night  there  is  a  sign  of  clearing  in  the  whirling 
cloud  of  snow  which  has  driven  about  us  so  long. 
The  moon  is  glowing  brightly  in  an  inky  sky.  It  is 
the  first  glimpse  of  a  heavenly  body  In  nearly  a  week. 
The  new  moon  has  partly  spent  itself  above  the 
banks  of  frosty  clouds  which,  for  weeks,  have  veiled 
the  heavens.  To-night  it  comes  to  us  with  a  ragged 
fringe  on  its  upper  surface,  but  we  are  glad  enough 
to  get  even  that.  The  moon,  like  the  sun,  is  sailing 
along  the  northern  sky  from  north-east  to  north-west 
about  30°  above  the  horizon.     There  is  a  bright  band 

269 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

of  green  rays  running  through  the  moon  to  the  sur- 
face snows  where  the  light  expands  and  becomes 
diffused.  Late  last  night  we  observed  a  series  of 
luminous  clouds  which,  from  their  quick  movement, 
we  took  to  be  an  aurora.  But  the  position  of  the 
moon  to-night,  together  with  a  similar  exhibition  of 
luminous  clouds  in  the  same  position  which  we  know 
to  be  brightened  by  lunar  light,  convinces  us  that  we 
have  been  mistaken. 

By  an  observation  at  ten  o'clock  to-night  our  posi- 
tion is  deduced  to  be  latitude  70^  43'  30'',  longitude 
90^  30^  45^^  It  is  evident  that  we  have  begun  to  drift 
rapidly  on  an  easterly  course.  In  five  days  we  have 
drifted  northward  seven  miles  and  eastward  nearly 
two  degrees.  (From  this  time  on,  through  the  long 
night  and  far  into  the  advancing  day,  the  trend  of 
our  drift  was  easterly,  in  response  to  prevailing  west- 
erly winds.) 

The  months  of  March  and  April  were,  in  many 
respects,  the  happiest  months  of  the  year.  Every- 
thing at  this  time  was  new  to  us.  We  found  interest 
in  the  weird  cries  of  the  penguins  ;  we  found  pleasure 
and  recreation  in  hunting  seals,  and  we  prided  our- 
selves on  our  ability  to  wing  petrels  for  specimens. 
Everything  about  the  new  life  and  the  strange,  white 
world  around  us  was  fascinating.  The  weather  at 
this  time  was  occasionally  clear  and  cold,  though 
generally  stormy,  which  was  not  the  case  during  the 
greater  part  of  the  year.  The  pieces  of  ice  gathered 
into  groups,  and  united  to  form  larger  fields.  The 
entire  pack,  one  endless  expanse  of  apparently 
motionless,  but  still  constantly  moving,  ice,  was  full 

270 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

of  interest  to  us.  The  sun  presented  a  curious  face  in 
its  rise  and  descent;  and  the  colour  effects,  though 
not  gorgeous,  were  attractive  for  their  simpHcity  of 
shades.  The  moon,  too,  had  a  distorted  face  as  it 
came  out  of  the  frosty  mist  resting  over  the  pack. 
The  stars  shone  occasionally  through  their  setting  of 
heavy  blue  with  a  sparkle  like  huge  gems.  At  this 
season  the  aurora  australis  displayed  most  of  its  rare 
glory  on  the  southern  skies.  We  were  drifting 
rapidly  from  one  unknown  sea  to  another  still  more 
unknown.  ''  Perhaps  we  are  on  the  way  to  the 
south  pole,"  was  an  everyday  suggestion. 

Our  first  and  most  important  work  in  the  pack 
was  to  study  the  strange  sea  over  which  we  drifted. 
This  necessitated  observations,  not  only  of  the  sea- 
ice  and  icebergs  and  the  scant  life  about  us  on  the 
ice  and  in  the  water,  but  also  of  the  composition  of 
the  water,  its  depth,  the  temperatures  at  various 
depths,  and  the  material  of  the  sea-bottom.  It 
required  also  a  careful  study  of  the  atmosphere. 
The  heads  of  the  various  scientific  departments  and 
their  assistants  were  kept  busy  for  a  part  of  the  time 
making  these  studies.  The  sailors,  in  addition  to 
assisting  with  the  scientific  labour,  were  kept  well  en- 
gaged by  the  ordinary  routine  work  of  the  ship  and 
the  task  of  embanking  the  vessel  with  snow  to  pro- 
tect her  from  the  expected  cold  of  the  coming  win- 
ter-long night. 

By  the  end  of  April  our  ship  was  snugly  arranged 
for  her  winter  imprisonment.  A  roof  had  been 
erected  over  the  deck  amidships,  and  under  it  were 
an  anvil  and  a  fire  for  the  use  of  the  engineer  while 

271 


THROUGH  tHE  FIRST 

making  the  necessary  iron-work.  The  cabins  were 
rearranged  to  offer  the  greatest  possible  amount  of 
heat,  light,  and  freedom  from  humidity.  A  floor 
was  placed  over  the  engine-room,  and  on  it  a  small 
stove  to  heat  the  officers'  quarters.  The  galley  was 
put  between  decks  next  to  the  forecastle,  into  which 
should  go  the  superfluous  heat.  Double  doors  and 
double  windows  were  made  everywhere,  and  all  pos- 
sible openings  where  heat  might  escape  were  closed. 
Exteriorly,  the  sides  of  the  ship  were  banked  by  snow 
blocks,  the  decks  were  blanketed  by  the  constantly 
falling  snow,  and  over  it  all  the  snow-charged  winds 
drifted,  making  a  neat  and  perfect  embankment. 
Our  antarctic  home,  then,  was  imbedded  under  a 
huge  snowbank,  on  a  field  of  ice  which  drifted  with 
the  winds  over  the  unknown  antarctic  seas. 

It  was  my  delight  to  ascend  to  the  masthead  and 
from  the  crow's  nest  view  our  horizon  day  by  day. 
The  general  aspect  of  our  view  changed  very  little. 
Some  new  cracks  formed  in  the  ice,  and  old  ones 
closed.  Some  of  the  icebergs  occasionally  turned  a 
little,  showing  a  different  face,  but  no  marked  alter- 
ation was  ever  visible  in  the  general  topography  of 
the  pack.  Moving  about  as  we  were,  there  always 
seemed  to  be  a  possibility  of  finding  a  speck  of  land, 
a  rock,  or  something  new  in  our  path  ;  but  this  never 
happened.  We  saw  no  land  during  the  entire  drift. 
Appearances  of  land  were  reported  every  few  days, 
but  always  proved  deceptions.  They  were  only 
illuminated  clouds.  Along  the  edge  of  the  field  in 
which  we  were  frozen  were  large  ridges  or  pressure 
lines,  where  the  contact  and  pressure  against  neigh- 

272 


ANTARCTIC   NIGHT 

Louring  fields  raised  fragments  of  ice  above  the  sur- 
face. These  ridges  were  from  three  to  fifteen  feet  in 
height.  The  field,  usually  about  two  miles  in  diam- 
eter, was  everywhere  dotted  by  pyramidal  and  dome- 
shaped  miniature  mountains,  which  arose  above  the 
surface  from  two  to  twenty  feet.  These  are  technically 
called  ''hummocks."  Around  the  hummocks  and 
along  the  edge  of  the  floe  penguins  and  seals  rested, 
sheltered  from  the  wind.  Near  the  ship  and  about 
the  outhouses  the  snow  was  thrown  up  in  great 
banks,  dotted  by  black  spots  representing  sledges, 
snowshoes,  sleighs,  and  general  implements.  As 
we  emerged  from  the  little  hold  on  the  port  side 
which  was  our  only  exit,  a  narrow  path  led  out  about 
one  hundred  yards  to  a  circular  hole  through  the 
ice.  Over  this  we  had  erected  a  large  tripod,  from 
which  we  suspended  the  instruments  for  sounding 
and  fishing  and  recording  deep-sea  temperatures. 
About  midway  between  this  and  the  ship,  we  built 
a  box-shaped  hut  for  nautical  observations.  About 
one  hundred  yards  from  the  stern  of  the  ship,  Mr. 
Danco  contrived  a  curiously  shaped  box  for  magnetic 
observations,  and  a  little  distance  beyond,  upon  a 
convenient  hummock,  were  placed  the  meteorological 
instruments.  About  two  hundred  yards  off  the  port 
bow,  a  small  house  had  been  put  up  to  capture  the 
electricity  from  the  aurora  australis.  Efforts  were 
made  to  keep  a  path  open  to  each  of  these  houses,  but 
the  work  generally  proved  futile.  The  quantity  of 
drift- snow  was  always  so  great  that  it  buried  every 
path  and  every  irregularity  in  the  vessel's  vicinity. 
It  was  at  no  time  possible  to  leave  the  ship  with- 

273 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

out  snowshoes  of  some  sort.  The  little  exercise  on 
the  ice,  which  freedom  from  duties  permitted,  was 
taken  on  the  Norwegian  snowshoe,  the  ski.  For 
mere  pleasure-journeys  these  proved  in  every  way 
superior  to  the  Canadian  rackets  and  other  patterns ; 
but  where  it  became  necessary  to  pull  sledges  or 
travel  over  rough  paths,  the  other  kinds  were  bet- 
ter. We  made  several  long  journeys  to  neighbouring 
icebergs.  Sometimes  on  these  journeys  we  met 
with  serious  obstructions  and  detentions.  It  was  not 
found  practicable  to  carry  food,  extra  clothing,  or 
camping  equipments,  and  yet  often  the  need  of  these 
became  very  great.  The  ice,  in  separating,  would 
leave  large  zones  of  water  between  us  and  the  next 
field,  thus  cutting  off  our  retreat,  and  leaving  us  to 
spend  hours  of  meditation  upon  the  prospect  of  star- 
vation and  of  death  by  freezing. 

May  I. — The  day  is  fair  with  a  light  south-west- 
erly wind  at  noon.  Low  down  on  the  northern  sky 
the  sun  has  been  edging  along  the  pack,  screened 
by  flying  banks  of  ice  crystals,  but  it  has  given  no 
perceptible  heat  and  only  a  feeble  light.  Hardly  had 
the  sun  sunk  under  the  sea  when  a  furious  westerly 
gale  swept  over  us,  and  drove  snow  into  every  crack 
and  opening  of  the  Belgica.  Leads  have  spread 
again,  and  great  lakes  are  pictured  on  the  sky  by 
smoky  patches.  We  secured  five  small  and  two  king 
penguins  and  saw  some  seals  and  whales.  Life  is  always 
abundant  when  large  continuous  leads  are  open. 
There  is  so  much  movement  now  among  the  indi- 
vidual floes,  and  so  much  pressure  and  crushing  about 
the  ship  that  we  believe  it  unsafe  to  venture  out  in 

274 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

the  dark  for  fear  of  stepping  into  one  of  the  many 
new  crevasses.  For  the  same  reason  we  entertain 
some  anxiety  regarding  the  safety  of  our  outhouses 
and  the  implements  scattered  about  on  the  ice.  It 
is  curious  that  we  should  have  such  continued  warm 
weather,  and  equally  curious  to  find  the  pack  break- 
ing up  when  the  days  are  already  far  advanced  in 
the  antarctic  winter.  The  only  explanation  for  this 
unexpected  condition  of  things  is  that  we  have  drifted 
to  a  region  close  to  the  edge  of  the  pack. 

There  are  many  changes  in  our  surroundings  which 
seem  to  indicate  our  nearness  to  open  water.  There 
is  a  noticeable  swell  which  is  shown  by  the  alternate 
advance  and  retreat  of  floes  about  the  icebergs,  and 
by  a  total  rise  and  fall  of  six  inches  of  the  sea-ice  on 
the  walls  of  the  icebergs.  The  time  between  each 
rise  is  from  24  to  32  seconds.  The  evidence,  then, 
of  a  wave  under  the  ice  is  quite  conclusive.  Just  how 
far  beyond  the  pack  edge  the  swell  can  be  made  to 
penetrate  will  depend  very  much  upon  the  size  of 
the  floes  and  the  amount  of  space  between  them. 
From  our  present  experience  it  seems  likely  that  a 
northerly  storm  is  able  to  send  an  undulation  at 
least  fifty  miles  under  a  loose  pack  and,  perhaps,  much 
farther.  But  there  are  other  signs  of  a  nearness  to  an 
open  sea.  The  floe  into  which  the  Belgica  is  frozen 
is  getting  noticeably  smaller,  and  all  of  the  other 
floes  are  diminishing  likewise.  There  is  a  great 
deal  of  brash,  broken  blocks,  and  pulverised  ice  and 
snow,  in  the  water.  The  icebergs  turn  and  move 
about,  changing  their  relations  to  each  other.  New 
cracks  and  new  leads  are  daily  appearing.   The  tem- 

275 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

perature  is  rising  steadily  instead  of  falling,  as  it 
should  with  the  retreat  of  the  sun.  The  weather 
is  unsteady,  and  constantly  changing,  but  always  in 
such  a  way  as  to  indicate  a  nearness  to  an  open  sea. 
A  month  ago  a  storm  had  little  effect  upon  the  ice, 
but  now  even  light  winds  bring  about  a  noticeable 
commotion. 

May  4. — At  seven  o'clock  this  morning  Lecointe 
rushed  out  of  his  bunk  to  get  a  glimpse  of  the  stars, 
which  broke  through  the  high  mist  for  a  short 
period.  From  this  observation  he  calculates  our 
position  at  latitude  70°  2>2>'  2>^"^  longitude  89°  22'. 
A  sounding  made  at  about  the  same  time  gave  a 
depth  to  the  sea  of  1 1 50  metres.  From  this  great 
increase  in  depth  we  are  still  more  convinced  that 
we  are  going  to  the  edge  of  the  pack,  and  off  of  the 
submarine  bank  over  which  we  have  drifted  since 
entering  the  main  body  of  the  ice.  In  nine  days  we 
have  drifted  about  seventeen  miles  northward,  and 
eastward  nearly  three  degrees.  We  are  going  back 
to  the  east,  and  when  the  veil  of  darkness  rises,  we 
shall  perhaps  find  ourselves  near  the  position  where 
we  entered  if,  in  the  meantime,  we  are  not  forced 
out  of  the  ice  into  the  open  sea.  To  be  compelled 
to  leave  the  ice  at  present,  much  as  we  should  like  it, 
would  be  quite  dangerous.  We  have  almost  no  day- 
light ;  the  weather  outside  of  the  ice  would  certainly 
be  stormy  and  foggy.  How  could  we  find  our  way  in 
the  darkness,  among  the  certain  dangers  of  icebergs 
and  unknown  rocks,  over  the  storm-swept  seas  to 
South  America  at  this  time  ?  Since  the  first  the 
weather   has   grown    colder;    the  temperature  has 

276 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

ranged  from  —5°  to  —18^  C.  We  have  occasional 
strips  of  blue  sky,  with  a  cold  sunburst,  but  in  general 
the  heavens  have  been  cheerless — still  it  is  an  agree- 
able change  from  the  wet,  dirty  weather  which  we 
had  before. 

May  10. — There  are  now  constant  complaints  of  the 
warm  weather.  A  few  days  ago  the  temperature  rose 
a  half  of  a  degree  above  zero,  and  it  has  remained 
about  one  degree  under  zero  for  several  days.  Such 
weather,  in  the  commencement  of  winter,  when 
steady  cold  weather  is  expected,  is  positively  op- 
pressive. Everybody  is  in  a  disgruntled  spirit,  be- 
cause everything  is  wet,  and  there  is  a  never-ceas- 
ing howl  of  the  storm.  It  may  seem  unnatural  that 
we  should  hate  warm  weather  in  this  wilderness 
of  south  polar  ice,  but  it  is  followed  by  so  much 
discomfort  that  we  are  ever  praying  for  steady  frigid 
temperatures.  In  this  warm  weather  the  ice  is  be- 
coming more  and  more  broken.  Seals  and  whales  are 
sporting  in  the  open  channels,  but  penguins  are 
rarely  seen.  There  are  a  few  giant  and  brown  petrels 
about,  and  great  numbers  of  white  petrels.  We 
have  killed  a  few  seals,  and  have  removed  from  them 
their  skins  and  blubber  for  future  use,  but  we  have 
left  the  remainder  of  the  carcasses  out  on  the  floes. 
These  have  been  claimed  as  prizes  by  the  petrels. 
For  about  ten  days  hundreds  of  birds  have  remained 
near  us.  They  are  mostly  white  petrels,  but  there 
are  also  giant  and  brown  petrels  and  a  few  brown 
sea-gulls. 

At  noon  there  was  just  a  slight  suggestion  of  a 
sunburst,  but  it  is  growing  feebler  and  feebler.     The 

277 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

beams  of  light  come  to  us  at  such  an  ineffective 
angle  that  our  noonday  is  not  now  brighter  than  our 
twilight  of  a  month  ago.  The  sun  is  constantly 
veiled  by  a  bank  of  frozen  mist  which  prevents  our 
seeing  its  departing  splendour,  but  there  is  an  occa- 
sional break  which  offers  us  for  a  few  seconds  a  view 
of  his  fading  face.  It  is  sad,  cold,  and  expression- 
less. The  accustomed  heat  is  absent,  and  the  light 
is  a  despairing  gray  glow  which,  on  the  surface  ice, 
makes  long  blue  shadows.  Still,  despondent  as  this 
seems  in  comparison  to  brighter  days,  it  is  the  only 
source  of  direct  light  and  heat  which  we  now  have. 
It  is  the  only  show  of  seeming  cheerfulness  in  this 
gloomy  world  of  blackness  into  which  we  are  fast 
drifting.  This  feeble  burst  of  lost  noonday  splendour 
is  the  last  draft  of  life  which  now  fans  the  fading 
cinders  of  the  soul,  while  the  death-dealing  darkness 
is  doing  its  devilish  work  of  extinguishment. 

May  15. — Unless  we  get  a  clear  sky  sometime 
during  the  night,  we  shall  not  be  able  to  determine 
the  exact  commencement  of  the  long  night.  If  our 
position  is  approximately  where  our  dead  reckoning 
places  us,  we  should  have  seen  the  sun  for  a  few  minutes 
at  noon  to-day  for  the  last  time;  but  the  sky  was  too 
hazy  to  give  us  this  last  peep.  In  the  south-east  there 
is  a  dull,  creamy  light  on  the  clouds,  which  suggests 
the  presence  of  a  high  country,  reflecting  an  ice- 
blink. The  west  and  north,  in  the  morning  and 
afternoon,  were  marked  by  a  dark,  purple-blue  zone. 
At  noon  the  light  was  so  feeble  that  we  could  not  see 
the  outline  of  the  hummock  on  the  pack. 

Our  floe,  the  sheet  of  ice  into  which  the  Belgica 

278 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

is  frozen,  now  offers  a  sad  appearance.  It  Is  cracked, 
torn,  rasped,  ground,  and  so  swept  by  thawing  storms 
that  the  picturesque  glory  of  its  glowing  days  has 
gone.  And  what  is  still  more  disheartening  is  that, 
torn  and  fractured  as  the  field  is  now,  it  no  longer 
affords  us  a  safe  harbour,  free  of  crushing  influences, 
as  it  did  when  all  about  was  one  solid  mass.  The 
thick  bed  of  soft  spotless  snow,  which  softened  the 
sharp  edges  and  cushioned  the  rough  irregularities, 
has  been  reduced  to  a  mere  film  through  which  the 
hard  blue  ice,  with  its  savage  roughness  and  its 
gloomy  skeleton -like  projections,  is  clearly  seen.  The 
unique  velvety  and  wavy  surface  has  given  way  to 
an  ugly  water-soaked  plane  of  hard  ice.  We  have 
watched  the  field  grow  by  the  addition  of  one  floe 
after  another,  and  we  have  steadily  increased  our 
comfort  upon  its  bosom.  Our  sense  of  safety  has 
grown  with  the  augumented  breadth  and  thickness. 
We  have,  to  some  extent,  helped  to  harbour  the  Bel- 
gica  by  walls  of  snow ;  but  Nature  here  has  curious 
moods.  With  one  hand  she  protects,  with  the  other 
she  destroys,  —  she  aided  us  by  drifting  around  the 
ship  an  enormous  amount  of  snow,  but  she  has  injured 
us  by  breaking  that  which  sheltered  us. 

We  have  learned  to  regard  this  Belgica  field  as  a 
little  polar  farm  preserved  for  our  special  benefit,  to 
harbour  us  safely  through  the  long  night  which  is  be- 
fore us.  It  is  a  substitute  for  land,  though  it  drifts 
about  with  the  wind,  and  on  its  edges  we  find  products 
in  the  form  of  seals  and  penguins.  But  this  faith  in 
security  and  prospective  rest  in  a  solid  unbroken  crust 
has  now  vanished  and  at  a  time  when  we  most  need  it. 

279 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

Only  a  month  ago  the  broadest  diameter  of  the  field 
was  four  miles.     About  two  weeks  ago  an  assault  be- 
gan along  the   outer  edge  of  the  north  and  south. 
Huge  fragments  were  torn  off,  bits  of  other  fields  were 
pushed  on  by  neighbouring  sheets.      Little  by  little 
our  field  has  been  reduced  to  less  than  half  its  former 
size ;  but  the  Belgica  always  escaped  this  battle  of 
Nature  until  this  morning.     Now  the  field  is  com- 
pletely destroyed  and  the  bark  is  again  among  the 
pieces  in  the  sea,  taking  hard  thumps  from  the  restless 
ice.     We  are  somewhat  anxious  about  the  safety  of 
our  outhouses.     There   are  several   crevasses  near 
Danco's  observatory.     The  captain's  **  hotel,"  from 
which  he  sights  the  stars,  is  threatened  by  a  crevasse 
under   it,    and   Arctowski    has   gathered  up  all  his 
instruments  and  placed  them  aboard  for  safe  keeping. 
It  is  just  these  little  black  spots  about  the  vessel  which 
add  the  suggestion  of  a  village  and  a  home  to  our 
otherwise  dull  surroundings.     (However,  the  threat- 
ened destruction   did  not  proceed  beyond   a  lively 
scare.     On  the  day  following  the  ice  came  together, 
the  temperature  fell,  the  fissures  closed,  and  a  heavy 
fall  of  snow  gave  the  Belgica  a  soft  feathery  bed  in 
which  she  rested  until  relieved  by  our  own  hands.) 


280 


CHAPTER   XXI 

THE   SOUTH   POLAR   NIGHT  —  DEPARTURE   OF 

THE    SUN. 

May  1 6. — The  long  night  began  at  12  o'clock  last 
night.  We  did  not  know  this  until  this  afternoon. 
At  4  o'clock  Lecointe  got  an  observation  by  two 
stars  which  placed  us  in  latitude  71°  34^  30^^  longi- 
tude 89°  10'.  According  to  a  careful  calculation 
from  these  figures  the  captain  announces  the  melan- 
choly news  that  there  will  be  no  more  day — no  more 
sun  for  seventy  days,  if  our  position  remains  about 
the  same.  If  we  drift  north  the  night  will  be  shorter, 
if  south  it  will  be  longer.  Shortly  before  noon  the 
long  prayed-for  southerly  wind  came,  sweeping  from 
the  pack  the  warm,  black  atmosphere,  and  replacing 
,  it  with  a  sharp  air  and  a  clearing  sky.  Exactly  at 
\  noon  we  saw  a  brightening  in  the  north.  We  ex- 
/  pected  to  see  the  sun  by  refraction,  though  we  knew 
^it  was  actually  below  the  horizon,  but  we  were  dis- 
appointed. The  cold  whiteness  of  our  earlier  sur- 
roundings has  now  been  succeeded  by  a  colder  black- 
ness. Even  the  long,  bright  twilight,  which  gladdened 
our  hearts  on  first  entering  the  pack,  has  been  reduced 

281 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

to  but  a  fraction  of  its  earlier  glory  ;   this  now  takes 
the  place  of  our  departed  day. 

The  winter  and  the  darkness  have  slowly  but 
steadily  settled  over  us.  By  such  easy  stages  has 
the  light  departed  that  we  have  not,  until  now, 
appreciated  the  awful  effect.  The  circumstance  has 
furnished  a  subject  for  our  conversation  for  most  of 
the  time  which  we  now  mis-name  day,  and  a  large 
part  of  the  sleeping  hours  of  the  night.  It  is  not 
difficult  to  read  on  the  faces  of  my  companions  their 
thoughts  and  their  moody  dispositions.  We  are  all 
wandering  northward  —  homeward,  with  the  fugitive 
sun.  The  curtain  of  blackness  which  has  fallen  over 
the  outer  world  of  icy  desolation  has  also  descended 
upon  the  inner  world  of  our  souls.  Around  the  tables, 
in  the  laboratory,  and  in  the  forecastle,  men  are  sit- 
ting about  sad  and  dejected,  lost  in  dreams  of  mel- 
ancholy from  which,  now  and  then,  one  arouses  with 
an  empty  attempt  at  enthusiasm.  For  brief  moments 
some  try  to  break  the  spell  by  jokes,  told  perhaps 
for  the  fiftieth  time.  Others  grind  out  a  cheerful 
philosophy  ;   but  all  efforts  to  infuse  bright  hopes  fail. 

Each  man  is  intent  on  being  left  alone  to  take  what 
comfort  he  can  from  memories  of  happier  days,  though 
such  effort  usually  leaves  him  more  hopelessly  op- 
pressed by  the  sense  of  utter  desertion  and  loneli- 
ness. For  six  weeks  we  have  been  so  intent  in 
prosecuting  the  various  lines  of  research  and  in  pre- 
paring the  bark,  as  well  as  our  clothing  and  equip- 
ment for  the  winter,  that  we  have  not  with  sufficient 
interest,  noticed  the  melancholy  decline  of  the  day. 
It  has  gone  slowly,  and  the  persistent  storms  have 

282 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

so  screened  the  heavens  that  it  has  vanished  as  if  by 
stealth.  Now,  however,  the  gloom  of  night  which 
has  so  rapidly  followed  its  lengthening  shadow,  has 
suddenly  impressed  upon  our  passive  minds  the 
awful  individual  loneliness,  and  the  unfathomable  sol- 
itude of  this  impenetrable  antarctic  wilderness. 

Henceforth,  for  a  period  which  is  a  blank  in 
human  history,  the  fair-haired  goddess  of  light  will 
repose  beneath  the  polar  star  over  the  more  hopeful 
arctic  lands.  Her  pathway  is  no  longer  over  the 
familiar  hummocks  and  icebergs  and  the  even  spreads 
of  this  icy  desert  under  the  Southern  Cross.  Her 
silvery  tresses  have  swept  for  the  last  time  this  sea 
of  frozen  wave ;  her  departing  breath  has  stilled,  as 
by  the  hand  of  death,  the  bosom  of  this  great  body 
of  water  upon  which  we  have  cast  our  fortunes. 

May  17. —  At  ten  o  clock  this  morning  the  purple 
twilight  curve  settled  over  the  south-west,  edged  with 
an  indescribable  blending  of  orange,  red,  and  gold, 
and  at  eleven  o'clock  this  curve  was  met  by  a  zone 
of  rose  which  gradually  ascended  over  the  north-east, 
above  the  sun.  The  ice,  which  had  been  gray,  was 
lighted  up  by  a  lively  flash  of  pink,  which  was  re- 
lieved by  long  river-like  leads  of  open  water  having  a 
glowing  surface  of  dark  violet.  These,  however,  were 
the  surface  colours  towards  the  sun.  In  the  oppo- 
site direction  there  was  an  entirely  different  effect. 
The  snow  had  spread  evenly  over  it  a  delicate  shade 
of  green,  while  the  waters  were  a  very  dark  purple- 
blue.  A  few  minutes  before  twelve  a  great,  distorted, 
ill-defined  semi-globular  mass  of  fire  rose  over  the 
north,  edged  along  the  line  of  sharp  hummocks,  and 

283 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

then  sank  beneath  the  ice.  It  was  an  image  of  the 
sun,  lifted  above  its  actual  position  by  the  refrac- 
tive character  of  the  air,  through  which  its  light 
passed  to  our  eyes.  It  was  in  reality  an  optical  il- 
lusion, based  upon  the  principle  that  if  a  beam  of 
light  is  compelled  to  pass  through  a  medium  of  vari- 
ous densities,  as  the  air  here  is  sure  to  be,  its  course 
is  deflected.  The  sun,  then,  though  actually  below 
the  horizon  to-day,  was  raised  by  this  apparent  uplift 
and  we  were  able  to  see  one-half  of  his  face. 

We  have  been  fishing  through  the  sounding  hole 
to-day  with  hooks,  but  our  efforts  proved  disappoint- 
ing. The  hooks,  when  we  raised  the  complicated 
deep-sea  apparatus,  were  missing.  Either  some 
submarine  "monsters  have  taken  the  hooks  or  they 
have  dragged  on  a  rocky  bottom.  The  temperature 
at  9  A.  M.  was  —  12^  C,  and  the  weather  shows  signs 
of  clearing,  though  the  wind  is  veering  northerly. 

It  is  remarkable  how  a  little  incident,  especially 
one  surrounded  by  some  mystery  when  brought 
suddenly  into  our  horizon,  will  arouse  great  excite- 
ment. This  does  not  often  happen,  which  accounts 
for  the  air  of  lethargy  and  disinterestedness  which  is 
coming  over  us  with  the  increase  of  darkness.  The 
weird  outline  of  the  dying  face  of  the  setting  sun  a  few 
days  ago,  and  the  premonitions  of  the  seventy  .sun- 
less days  through  which  we  are  now  to  pass,  aroused 
a  new  sensation.  The  extraordinary  effects  of  the 
moon,  vague  lights  and  shadows  on  the  horizon,  in- 
indicating  the  possible  outline  of  a  new  land;  an 
occasional  peak  of  a  new  iceberg  coming  into  our 
plane    of  vision ;    the    uncommon    changes   of    the 

284 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

auroras,  of  the  weather,  and  the  visit  of  a  penguin 
or  a  seal,  all  incite  new  life,  but  the  inspiration  is 
of  short  duration.  In  a  few  hours  the  soul  sinks 
again  into  its  sleep  which  is  induced  by  the  long 
night  of  months.  This  morning,  however,  there 
was  an  incident  which  startled  everybody  in  a  man- 
ner quite  unusual. 

At  about  seven  o'clock  the  captain  went  out  to 
find  two  stars  from  which  to  obtain  an  observation 
for  position.  The  sky  was  too  hazy  to  give  him  an 
observation,  but  his  eye  rested  upon  an  inexplicable 
speck  of  light  in  the  west.  He  stood  and  looked  at 
it  for  some  moments.  It  did  not  change  in  position, 
but  sparkled  now  and  then  like  a  star.  The  thing 
came  suddenly,  disappeared  and  again  reappeared  in 
exactly  the  same  spot.  It  was  so  curious  and  as- 
sumed so  much  the  nature  of  a  surprise,  that  Lecointe 
came  into  the  cabin  and  announced  the  news.  We 
accused  him  of  having  had  too  early  an  eye-opener, 
but  we  went  out  quickly  to  see  the  mystery.  It  was 
about  eight  o'clock ;  the  sky  was  a  streaky  mouse 
colour.  The  ice  was  gray,  with  a  slight  suggestion 
of  lilac  in  the  high  lights,  but  the  entire  outline  of 
the  pack  was  vague  under  a  very  dark  twilight.  We 
looked  for  some  time  in  the  direction  in  which 
Lecointe  pointed,  but  we  saw  only  a  gloomy  waste 
of  ice,  lined  in  places  by  breaks  in  the  pack  from 
which  oozed  a  black  cloud  of  vapour.  We  were  not 
sure  that  the  captain's  eyesight  was  not  defective, 
and  began  to  blackguard  him  afresh. 

After  we  had  stood  on  the  snow-decked  bridge 
for   ten    minutes,  shivering   and   kicking   about   to 

285 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

keep  our  blood  from  freezing,  we  saw  on  a  floe  some 
distance  westward  a  light  like  that  of  a  torch.  It 
flickered,  rose  and  fell,  as  if  carried  by  some  moving 
object.  We  went  forward  to  find  if  anybody  was 
missing  —  for  we  could  only  explain  the  thing  by 
imagining  a  man  carrying  a  lantern.  Everybody 
was  found  to  be  on  board,  and  then  the  excitement 
ran  high.  Soon  all  hands  were  on  deck  and  all 
seemed  to  think  that  the  light  was  being  moved 
towards  us.  Is  it  a  human  being?  Is  it  perhaps 
some  one  from  an  unknown  south  polar  race  of 
people  ?  For  some  minutes  no  one  ventured  out  on 
the  pack  to  meet  the  strange  messenger.  We  were, 
indeed,  not  sufficiently  dressed  for  this  mission.  Few 
had  had  breakfast ;  all  were  without  mittens  and  hats, 
some  without  coats,  and  others  without  trousers.  If 
it  were  a  diplomatic  visitor  we  were  certainly  in  an 
uncomfortable  and  undignified  uniform  with  which 
to  receive  him.  Amundsen,  who  was  the  biggest, 
the  strongest,  the  bravest,  and  generally  the  best 
dressed  man  for  sudden  emergencies,  slipped  into 
his  annorak,  jumped  on  his  ski  and  skated  rapidly 
over  the  gloomy  blackness  of  the  pack  to  the 
light.  He  lingered  about  the  spot  a  bit,  and  then 
returned  without  company  and  without  the  light, 
looking  somewhat  sheepish.  It  proved  to  be  a  mass 
of  phosphorescent  snow  which  had  been  newly 
charged  by  sea  algae,  and  was  occasionally  raised 
and  brushed  by  the  pressure  of  the  ice. 

May  1 8. — During  the  few  hours  of  midday  dawn 
we  made  an  excursion  to  a  favourite  iceberg  to  view 
the  last  signs  of  the  departing  day.     It  was  a  weird 

286 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

jaunt.  I  shall  always  remember  the  peculiar  mi- 
pression  it  produced  upon  me.  When  we  started 
almost  all  the  party  were  outside,  standing  about  in 
groups  of  three  or  four,  discussing  the  prospects  of 
the  long  winter  night  and  the  short  glory  of  the 
scene  about.  A  thing  sadder  by  far  than  the  fleeing 
sun  was  the  illness  of  our  companion,  Lieutenant 
Danco,  which  was  emphasised  to  us  now  by  his  ab- 
sence from  all  the  groups,  his  malady  confining  him 
to  the  ship.  We  knew  at  this  time  that  he  would 
never  again  see  a  sunrise,  and  we  felt  that  perhaps 
others  might  follow  him.  ''  Who  will  be  here  to 
greet  the  returning  sun  ?  "  was  often  asked. 

My  companions  on  the  excursion  were  Gerlache 
and  Amundsen.  Slowly  and  lazily  we  skated  over 
the  rough  surface  of  the  snow  to  the  northward.  We 
had  not  gone  far  before  we  discovered  that  the  ice 
was  cracking  and  large  leads  were  cutting  off  our 
retreat.  We  mounted  hummocks  of  unusual  height, 
and  there  awaited  the  imitation  of  the  rising  of  the 
sun.  Where  the  ice  broke  it  separated,  leaving  a 
lane  of  black  sea,  from  which  oozed  a  peculiar  va- 
pour— in  reality  a  cloud  of  small  icy  crystals  which  fell 
on  the  neighbouring  ice-fields.  The  countless  minia- 
ture mountains,  or  hummocks,  which  covered  the 
white  fields,  had  their  northern  faces  brightened  by 
a  pale  yellow  light  and  their  southern  shadowed  by 
a  dull  blue.  This  gave  a  little  light  to  the  usual  life- 
less gray  of  the  ice-fields.  Along  the  fresh  leads 
there  were  a  few  penguins  and  an  occasional  seal, 
and  in  the  water,  whales  were  spouting  jets  of  breath. 

The  pack,  with  the  strange  play  of  deflected  light 

287 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

upon  it,  the  subdued  high  Hghts,  the  softened  shad- 
ows, the  little  speck  of  human  and  wild  life,  and  our 
good  ship  buried  under  its  snows,  should  have  been 
interesting  to  us ;  but  we  were  interested  only  in  the 
sky  and  in  the  northern  portion  of  it.  A  few 
moments  before  twelve  the  cream-coloured  zone  in 
the  north  brightened  to  an  orange  hue,  and  precisely 
at  noon  half  of  the  form  of  the  sun  ascended  above 
the  ice.  It  was  a  misshapen,  dull  semicircle  of  gold, 
heatless,  rayless,  and  sad.  It  sank  again  in  a  few 
moments,  leaving  almost  no  colour  and  nothing  cheer- 
ful to  remember  through  the  seventy  long  days  of 
darkness  which  followed.  We  returned  to  the  ship, 
and  during  the  afternoon  laid  out  the  plans  for  our 
midwinter  occupation. 

May  20.  —  It  is  the  fifth  day  of  the  long  night  and 
it  certainly  seems  long,  very  long,  since  we  have  felt 
the  heat  of  the  sun.  During  the  parting  days  of  light 
the  weather  was  exceedingly  unsteady,  and  the  sky 
was  then  constantly  veiled  by  a  frozen  smoky  vapour, 
but  now  a  disturbing  element  seems  to  have  been  with- 
drawn. The  horizon  is  not  yet  clear,  but  the  zenith 
is  almost  always  high  and  blue,  with  the  Southern 
Cross  generally  visible  until  nine  o'clock  in  the 
morning  and  after  three  o'clock  in  the  afternoon. 
From  eleven  to  one  o'clock  at  noon  to-day  there  was 
light  enough  thrown  over  the  northern  ice  to  read 
ordinary  print  outside,  but  in  our  rooms  it  is  neces- 
sary to  burn  lights  continually.  The  little  midday 
twilight  is  used  to  make  soundings  and  to  secure  the 
fauna  and  flora  of  the  shallow  sea  under  us.  Those 
not  engaged  in  this  work  are  busied  in  still  more 

288 


An  Old  Lead. 


A  New  Crevasse. 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

snugly  housing  the  Belgica  and  In  shoveHng  path- 
ways around  the  ship.  I  have  selected  this  part  of 
the  day  to  take  a  daily  walk  over  the  pack  to  neigh- 
bouring floes,  and  to  distant  Icebergs,  to  study  the  Ice 
and  the  life,  and  to  obtain  sufficient  physical  exercise, 
as  well  as  mental  recreation,  to  retard  the  spell  of 
indifference  which  is  falling  over  me. 

For  fifteen  minutes  before  and  after  twelve  o'clock 
the  sky  and  the  ice  are  flooded  by  a  wealth  of  fascin- 
ating colours.  The  northern  sky  is  such  that  one 
momentarily  expects  the  sun  to  rise.  Here  are  the 
warm  shades  of  red  and  yellow  and  on  the  snow, 
looking  in  this  direction,  there  is  a  noticeable  flesh 
colour  in  which  one  sees  fetching  lines  of  lilac. 
In  the  opposite  direction  there  are  some  weird 
shades  of  blue-black  and  a  few  dead  sheets  of  gray- 
blue  In  shadowed  surfaces,  in  the  caverns  of  bergs, 
and  In  the  fissures,  but  the  mixed  shades  of  green 
and  purple  and  violet  are  also  displayed  with  crystal 
purity.  I  cannot  describe  this  short  spell  of  mid- 
day glory  as  it  impresses  me.  If  I  could  wield  a 
brush,  and  lay  these  colours  on  canvas  I  feel  that  one 
of  the  ambitions  of  my  life  would  be  accomplished. 
But  I  cannot  —  and  what  am  I  to  do  in  black,  with 
an  overworked  pen,  frosty  Ink,  and  a  mind  which  Is 
wearied  as  soon  as  the  cheer  of  noon-day  passes? 

To  the  first  of  May  our  health  had  been  fairly 
good.  We  have  had  little  complaints  and  some  in- 
significant injuries,  bruises,  cuts,  strains,  and  frost 
bites,  but  there  has  been  little  of  which  to  make  a 
medical  note.  Since  entering  the  pack  our  spirits 
have  not  improved.     The  quantity  of  food  which  we 

289 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

have  consumed,  individually  and  collectively,  has 
steadily  decreased  and  our  relish  for  food  has  also 
slowly  but  steadily  failed.  There  was  a  time  when 
each  man  enjoyed  some  special  dish  and  by  distribut- 
ing these  favoured  dishes  at  different  times  it  was  pos- 
sible to  have  some  one  gastronomically  happy  every 
day.  But  now  we  are  tired  of  everything.  We 
despise  all  articles  which  come  out  of  tin,  and  a  gen- 
eral dislike  is  the  normal  air  of  the  Belgica.  The 
cook  is  entitled,  through  his  efforts  to  please  us, 
to  kind  consideration,  but  the  arrangement  of  the 
menu  is  condemned,  and  the  entire  food  store  is  used 
as  a  subject  for  bitter  sarcasm.  Everybody  having 
any  connection  with  the  selection  or  preparation  of 
the  food,  past  or  present,  is  heaped  with  some  criti- 
cism. Some  of  this  is  merited,  but  most  of  it  is  the 
natural  outcome  of  our  despairing  isolation  from  ac- 
customed comforts. 

I  do  not  mean  to  say  that  we  are  more  discon- 
tented than  other  men  in  similar  conditions.  This 
part  of  the  life  of  polar  explorers  is  usually  sup- 
pressed in  the  narratives.  An  almost  monotonous 
discontent  occurs  in  every  expedition  through  the 
polar  night.  It  is  natural  that  this  should  be 
so,  for  when  men  are  compelled  to  see  one  an- 
other's faces,  encounter  the  few  good  and  the  many 
bad  traits  of  character  for  weeks,  months,  and  years, 
without  any  outer  influence  to  direct  the  mind,  they 
are  apt  to  remember  only  the  rough  edges  which  rub 
up  against  their  own  bumps  of  misconduct.  If  we 
could  only  get  away  from  each  other  for  a  few  hours 
at  a  time,  we  might  learn  to  see  a  new  side  and  take 

290 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

a  fresh  interest  in  our  comrades;  but  this  is  not 
possible.  The  truth  is,  that  we  are  at  this  moment  as 
tired  of  each  other  s  company  as  we  are  of  the  cold 
monotony  of  the  black  night  and  of  the  unpalatable 
sameness  of  our  food.  Now  and  then  we  experience 
affectionate  moody  spells  and  then  we  try  to  inspire 
each  other  with  a  sort  of  superficial  effervescence  of 
good  cheer,  but  such  moods  are  short-lived.  Physic- 
ally, mentally,  and  perhaps  morally,  then,  we  are 
depressed,  and  from  my  past  experience  in  the  arc- 
tic I  know  that  this  depression  will  increase  with  the 
advance  of  the  night,  and  far  into  the  increasing 
dawn  of  next  summer. 

The  mental  conditions  have  been  indicated 
above.  Physically  we  are  steadily  losing  strength, 
though  our  weight  remains  nearly  the  same,  with  a 
slight  increase  in  some.  All  seem  puffy  about  the 
eyes  and  ankles,  and  the  muscles,  which  were 
hard  earlier,  are  now  soft,  though  not  reduced  in 
size.  We  are  pale,  and  the  skin  is  unusually 
oily.  The  hair  grows  rapidly,  and  the  skin  about 
the  nails  has  a  tendency  to  creep  over  them,  seem- 
ingly to  protect  them  from  the  cold.  The  heart 
action  is  failing  in  force  and  is  decidedly  irregular. 
Indeed,  this  organ  responds  to  the  slightest  stimula- 
tion in  an  alarming  manner.  If  we  walk  hurriedly 
around  the  ship  the  pulse  rises  to  no  beats,  and  if 
we  continue  for  fifteen  minutes  it  intermits,  and  there 
is  also  some  difficulty  of  respiration.  The  observers, 
going  only  one  hundred  yards  to  the  observatories, 
come  in  almost  breathless  after  their  short  run.  The 
usual  pulse,  too,  is  extremely  changeable  from  day 

291 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

to  day.  Now  it  is  full,  regular,  and  vigorous ;  again 
it  is  soft,  intermittent  and  feeble.  In  one  case  it 
was,  yesterday,  43,  to-day  it  is  98,  but  the  man 
complains  of  nothing  and  does  his  regular  work. 
The  sun  seems  to  supply  an  indescribable  something 
which  controls  and  steadies  the  heart.  In  its 
absence  it  goes  like  an  engine  without  a  governor. 

There  is  at  present  no  one  disabled,  but  there  are 
many  little  complaints.  About  half  of  the  men  com- 
plain of  headaches  and  insomnia ;  many  are  dizzy 
and  uncomfortable  about  the  head,  and  others  are 
sleepy  at  all  times,  though  they  sleep  nine  hours. 
All  of  the  secretions  are  reduced,  from  which  it  fol- 
lows that  digestion  is  difficult.  Acid  dyspepsia  and 
frequent  gastric  discomforts  are  often  mentioned. 
There  are  also  rheumatic  and  neuralgic  pains,  mus- 
cular twitchings,  and  an  indefinite  number  of  small 
complaints,  but  there  is  but  one  serious  case  on 
hand.  This  is  Danco.  He  has  an  old  heart  lesion, 
a  leak  of  one  of  the  valves,  which  has  been  followed  by 
an  enlargement  of  the  heart  and  a  thickening  of  its 
walls.  In  ordinary  conditions,  when  there  was  no 
need  for  an  unusual  physical  or  mental  strain,  and 
when  liberal  fresh  food  and  bright  sunshine  were  at 
hand,  he  felt  no  defect.  But  these  conditions  are 
now  changed.  The  hypertrophied  muscular  tissue 
is  beginning  to  weaken,  and  atrophy  of  the  heart  is 
the  result,  dilating  and  weakening  with  a  sort  of 
measured  step,  which,  if  it  continues  at  the  present 
rate,  will  prove  fatal  within  a  month. 

May  22. — It  is  clear  and  still.  The  temperature 
has  fallen  to  — 19°  C.,and  altogether,  though  sunless, 

292 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

this  sharp,  cold  weather  at  present  is  more  agree- 
able to  us  than  the  dull,  stormy  days  with  warmth 
and  light  a  month  ago.  It  is  Sunday,  and  we  have 
nearly  all  been  out  for  a  jaunt  on  skis.  We  took 
some  photographs,  but  they  are  ugly,  because  there 
is  nothing  distinct  in  the  pictures.  It  is  not  possible 
to  make  good,  clear  pictures  except  on  bright  moon- 
light nights  or  on  sharp,  sunny  days.  It  is  the  cus- 
tom aft  to  go  into  the  masthead  and  scan  the  horizon 
for  signs  of  life,  before  starting  on  our  tours  of  recrea- 
tion. In  this  way  we  are  reasonably  sure  to  return 
with  a  penguin,  a  seal,  or  the  story  of  an  adven- 
ture. To-day  we  saw  a  seal  about  a  mile  from  the 
ship,  but  when  we  got  to  it  the  animal  started 
towards  the  Belgica.  We  urged  it  on  and  drove  it 
easily  to  our  home.  The  creature  looked  about  with 
much  curiosity  when  it  came  to  the  rough,  dirty 
snow  about  the  bark,  and  searched  diligently  for  a 
hole  through  which  it  might  plunge  to  the  sea  below. 
But  no  such  hole  or  crevasse  was  within  a  mile  of  us, 
for  the  calm  cold  of  the  past  week  has  reunited  all 
the  broken  fragments  into  large  fields.  We  threw  a 
rope  around  the  seal,  which  was  a  crab-eater,  intend- 
ing to  take  its  temperature  and  make  other  physi- 
ological experiments,  but  the  thing  was  too  slippery 
and  too  lively  for  us.  Several  instruments  were 
broken,  and  some  very  strong  ropes  were  snapped 
like  ordinary  twine.  Finally  the  seal  was  shot,  and 
its  skeleton  was  prepared  to  enrich  a  Belgian 
museum  of  natural  history.  There  was  to-night 
a  bright  aurora.  It  began  as  a  straight  horizontal 
zone  low  on  the  southern  sky.     Later  it  changed 

293 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

to  an  arc  with  the  parts  of  two  other  arcs  below  it. 
A  similar  phenomenon  appeared  last  night. 

May  27. — The  little  dusk  at  midday  is  fading  more 
and  more.  A  feeble  deflected  light  falls  upon  the  ele- 
vations, the  icebergs,  and  the  hummocks,  offering  a 
faint  cheerfulness,  but  this  soon  withdraws  and  leaves 
a  film  of  blackness.  The  pack  presents  daily  the 
same  despondent  surface  of  gray  which,  by  contrast 
to  the  white  sparkle  of  some  time  ago,  makes  our 
outlook  even  more  melancholy.  The  weather  is  now 
quite  clear  and  in  general  more  settled.  The  tem- 
perature ranges  from  5°  to  10^  C.  below  zero.  We 
have  frequent  falls  of  snow,  but  the  quantity  is  small 
and  the  period  is  short.  Generally  we  are  able  to 
see  the  stars  from  two  in  the  afternoon  until  ten  in 
the  morning.  During  the  four  hours  of  midday  the 
sky  is  generally  screened  by  a  thick  icy  vapour. 
There  are  a  few  white  petrels  about  daily,  and  in 
the  sounding  hole  we  have  noticed  a  seal  occasion- 
ally, but  there  is  now  no  other  life.  All  have  an 
abundance  of  work,  but  our  ambition  for  regular  oc- 
cupation, particularly  anything  which  requires  pro- 
longed mental  concentration,  is  wanting ;  even  the 
task  of  keeping  up  the  log  is  too  much.  There  is 
nothing  new  to  write  about,  nothing  to  excite  fresh 
interest.  There  are  now  no  auroras,  and  no  halos; 
everything  on  the  frozen  sea  and  over  it  is  sleep- 
ing the  long  sleep  of  the  frigid  night. 


294 


CHAPTER   XXII 

THE   SOUTH    POLAR   NIGHT  (CONTINUED)— 
DAYS   OF   DISCONTENTMENT. 


The  grayness  of 
the  first  days  of  the 
night  has  given  way 
to  a  soul-despair- 
ing darkness,  bro- 
ken only  at  noon 
by  a  feeble  yellow 
haze  on  the  north- 
ern sky.  I  can  think 
of  nothingmore  dis- 
heartening, more 
destructive  to  hu- 
man energy,  than 
this  dense,  unbro- 
ken blackness  of  the 
long  polar  night. 
In  the  arctic  it  has 
some  redeeming  features.  There  the  white  invader 
has  the  Eskimo  to  assist,  teach,  and  amuse  him.  The 
weather  there  is  clear  and  cold ;  and  in  the  regions 
about  Greenland,  where  I  have  been  engaged,  there 

295 


A  Helpless  Ship  in  a  Hopeless 
Sea  of  Ice. 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

is  land — real  solid  land,  not  the  mere  mockery  of  it, 
like  the  shifting  pack  that  is  about  us  here.  With 
land  at  hand,  prolonged  journeys  are  always  possible, 
but  what  are  we  to  do  on  a  moving  sea  of  ice  ? 

May  29.  —  Yesterday  we  had  a  warm  northerly 
gale  with  much  snow  and  a  thick  fog.  The  ice  is 
again  in  rapid  motion.  There  are  many  new  leads, 
numerous  pressure  angles,  and  fresh  fissures  in  the 
ice.  Danco  is  steadily  failing.  To  day  is  Sunday  ; 
the  men  look  forward  with  some  anticipation  to  this 
day  because  Sunday  is  set  aside,  not  as  a  day  of  wor- 
ship, for  I  have  never  seen  a  man  on  the  Belgica  with 
a  Bible  or  prayer-book  in  his  hands,  but  as  a  time  of 
freedom  from  usual  duties.  It  is  the  weekly  period  of 
recreation  and  special  feeding.  The  few  eatables 
which  are  still  relished  are  placed  on  the  menu  for 
Sunday.  This  serves  to  mark  time  and  to  divide, 
somewhat,  the  almost  unceasing  sameness  of  our  life. 

This  morning  had  in  it  no  element  of  promise  or 
cheer.  Even  at  noon  it  was  dark  and  gloomy.  But 
the  wet,  warm,  northerly  wind  of  yesterday  is  blowing 
its  last  breath.  The  cold  air  of  the  upper  atmos- 
pheric stratus  is  settling  down  over  us  again,  as  it 
always  does  in  an  approaching  calm.  In  this  region 
nothing  is  more  conducive  to  comfort  than  a  sharp 
atmosphere  with  a  low  temperature.  Warm  weather 
is  nice  enough  in  summer  or  in  more  temperate  lati- 
tudes ;  but  in  this  sea  of  ice  and  in  midwinter,  it  is 
far  from  desirable.  Aside  from  the  personal  discom- 
forts, high  temperature  in  our  position  adds  enormous 
dangers  to  our  safety.  The  ice,  now  being  firmly 
congealed,  is  crushed  and  thrown  from  one  part  of 

296 


ANTARCTIC   NIGHT 

the  ever  restless  sea  to  another.  It  is  broken, 
crushed,  and  ground  into  a  snowy  powder,  which  only 
too  well  indicates  to  us  what  would  become  of  our 
vessel  if  it  were  torn  from  its  present  bed. 

Last  night  a  tremendous  force  was  expended  against 
the  end  of  our  floe,  which  made  the  sleeping  Belgica 
quiver  from  stem  to  stern;  but,  fortunately,  the  good 
old  iceblock  held  together,  while  the  smaller  ice  pans 
around  her  were  pushed  on  the  surface  with  a  groan 
like  that  of  a  man  in  dire  pain.  To-day  all  is  quiet,  no 
pressure  groans,  no  noise  of  animals,  no  wind,  even  the 
usual  noise  on  board  has  ceased.  Since  three  o'clock 
the  temperature  has  fallen  three  degrees  every  hour. 
Now,  at  eight  o'clock,  it  is  —25.2°;  this  is  our  favour- 
ite temperature  and  what  a  joy  it  brings.  The  day  is, 
perhaps,  as  a  Sunday  ought  to  be,  cold,  solemn,  and 
silent.  A  feeble  arc  aurora  appeared  at  about  nine 
o'clock  to-night.  It  was  in  the  usual  position,  but  the 
exhibit  was  so  faint  that  had  we  not  been  trained  by 
our  previous  observations,  the  phenomenon  would 
have  passed  unrecognised. 

May  31. —  By  a  careful  observation  Captain  Le- 
cointe  deduces  our  latitude  to  71°  36',  longitude  ^"j^ 
Z2)  2>^" '  For  about  a  week  we  have  drifted  very 
little.  The  longitude  has  changed  slightly,  but  since 
the  1 8th  we  have  gone  southward  about  nineteen 
miles.  To  the  present  this  is  our  farthest  point 
southward.  On  the  20th  of  March  we  were  at  71° 
35^  longitude  88°  02^  a  position  very  near  that  at 
present.  (The  latitude  of  this  day,  71°  36^  proved 
to  be  our  farthest  south  during  the  entire  drift 
with  the  pack.) 

297 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

The  morning  Is  perfect,  as  we  regard  weather. 
The  thermometer  is  at  — 23°  C.  There  is  almost  no 
wind,  and  every  break  in  the  pack  is  covered  by  a 
thick  sheet  of  new  ice.  We  expected  cold,  clear 
weather,  but  it  was  otherwise  yesterday  and  last 
night.  The  wind  howled,  the  ice  was  again  torn 
into  small  pieces,  and  there  was  a  great  amount  of 
pressure  evident  in  the  lines  of  hummocks  running 
easterly  and  westerly.  Either  we  have  come  against 
some  obstruction  southward,  or  the  northerly  pressure 
is  extraordinary.  During  the  night  we  were  anx- 
ious about  the  safety  of  the  Belgica  ;  for,  as  the  fury 
of  the  wind  rushed  over  us,  the  ice  was  broken  and 
the  vessel  was  subjected  to  a  great  amount  of  pressure. 
The  ice  is  heaped  up  around  the  Belgica  in  huge 
walls  from  five  to  twenty  feet  in  height.  The  floes 
are  turning,  giving  the  good  old  ship  hard  jabs  in 
her  ribs.  She  takes  the  savage  blows  with  an  agon- 
izing moan.  Although  the  pressure  has  been  such 
that  we  packed  our  kits  and  were  prepared  to  try 
the  hospitality  of  the  pack,  there  has  been  no  real 
injury  which  we  can  discover.  We  were  extremely 
glad,  this  morning,  to  find  that  the  broken  ice  had 
been  reunited,  and  we  soon  learned  that  the  raised 
walls  about  would  prove  an  effective  embankment  in 
future  battles  with  the  storms. 

At  noon  there  was  a  faint  show  of  a  dawn.  The 
sky  in  the  north  was  touched  with  light  fiery  clouds. 
The  snow  had  upon  it  not  the  slightest  suggestion 
of  this  red,  but  remained  a  dull  gray,  while  the  sky 
above  was  a  smoky  blue.  One  not  familiar  with  the 
freaks  of  polar  day  would  have  thought  the   sun 

298 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

would  surely  rise,  or  that  it  had  just  sunk  under  the 
snow,  but  we  know  only  too  well  that  we  are  doomed 
to  see  it  make  a  fainter  and  fainter  display  at  noon 
for  three  more  weeks. 

Precisely  at  twelve  o'clock  a  strange  rectangular 
block  of  fire  appeared  in  the  east-south-east.  Its 
size  was  that  of  a  small  tabular  iceberg,  but  it  had  a 
dull  crimson  glow  which  made  the  scene  at  once 
weird  and  fascinating.  Its  base  rested  on  the  hori- 
zon and  it  seemed  to  rise,  brighten,  and  move  nor- 
therly. The  sky  here  was  a  purple,  thinly  veiled  by 
a  light  smoky  haze,  caused  by  icy  crystals  in  the 
lower  stratus  of  atmosphere,  but  there  was  not  an- 
other speck  of  redness  on  this  side  of  the  heavens 
except  the  orange  bow  usually  seen  over  the  twilight 
zone.  We  watched  this  with  considerable  awe  and 
amazement  for  ten  minutes  before  we  could  deter- 
mine its  meaning.  It  passed  through  several  stages 
of  forms,  finally  it  separated,  and  we  discovered  that 
it  was  the  moon.  It  was  in  fact  a  sort  of  mirage  of 
the  moon,  but  the  strange  rectangular  distortion, 
the  fiery  aspect,  and  its  huge  size,  made  a  sight  long 
to  be  remembered. 

During  the  past  days  of  the  night  we  have  made 
soundings  of  the  sea,  and  have  taken  samples  of  sub- 
marine and  surface  life.  This  has  given  Arctowski 
and  Racovitza  an  abundance  of  work.  It  is  in- 
teresting to  see  them  plod  along,  working  steadily 
and  faithfully  in  the  dark  laboratory,  packing  away 
specimens,  jotting  down  notes,  stooping  over  the 
microscopes  and  other  instruments,  always  with  a 
pencil  in  one  hand,  and  a  stick  in  the  other  to  greet 

299 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

the  first  man  who  dares  to  interrupt  them  in  their 
den.  Poor  fellows  !  —  their  faces  are  tired  and 
drawn,  as  if  some  great  calamity  had  come  upon 
them.  Danco  is  keeping  up  with  doggish  persist- 
ency his  magnetic  observations,  the  details  of  which 
are  such  that  he  is  almost  constantly  occupied  dur- 
ing working  hours.  He  is  steadily  failing,  but  he 
complains  little  and  keeps  up  a  kind  of  abnormal 
cheerfulness. 

The  meteorological  work  is  now  the  most  trouble- 
some task,  for  it  requires  some  one  to  make  the  obser- 
vations every  hour,  and  sometimes  oftener.  Each 
of  us  had  planned  a  work  of  some  magnitude  to  be 
completed  before  sunrise.  Commandant  de  Ger- 
lache  started  to  rewrite  the  ship's  log.  Lecointe 
began  to  complete  the  details  of  the  summer  s  hydro- 
graphic  work.  Racovitza,  in  addition  to  regular 
laboratory  work,  was  to  plan  the  outlines  of  a  new 
book  on  the  geographical  distribution  of  life.  Arc- 
towski  had  in  mind  a  dozen  scientific  problems  to 
elucidate.  Amundsen  entered  into  a  co-partnership 
with  me  to  make  new  and  more  perfect  travelling 
equipment;  and  in  addition  to  this,  I  had  the  an- 
thropological work  of  the  past  summer  to  place  into 
workable  order,  and  a  book  on  antarctic  exploration. 
Thus  we  had  placed  before  us  the  outline  for  in- 
dustrious occupation  ;  but  we  did  little  of  it.  As  the 
darkness  increased  our  energy  waned.  We  became 
indifferent,  and  found  it  difficult  to  concentrate  our 
minds  or  fix  our  efforts  to  any  one  plan  of  action. 
(The  work  mapped  out  was  partly  accomplished,  but 
it  was  done  after  the  return  of  the  sun.) 

300 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

The  regular  routine  of  our  work  is  tiresome  in  the 
extreme,  not  because  it  is  difficult  of  execution  or 
requires  great  physical  exertion,  but  because  of  its 
monotony.  Day  after  day,  week  after  week,  and 
month  after  month  we  rise  at  the  same  hour,  eat  the 
same  things,  talk  on  the  same  subjects,  make  a  pre- 
tense of  doing  the  same  work,  and  look  out  upon  the 
same  icy  wilderness.  We  try  hard  to  introduce  new 
topics  for  thought  and  new  concoctions  for  the  weary 
stomach.  We  strain  the  truth  to  introduce  stories 
of  home  and  of  flowery  future  prospects,  hoping  to 
infuse  a  new  cheer ;  but  it  all  fails  miserably.  We 
are  under  the  spell  of  the  black  antarctic  night,  and, 
like  the  world  which  it  darkens,  we  are  cold,  cheer- 
less, and  inactive.  We  have  aged  ten  years  in  thirty 
days. 

Here  is  an  outline  of  a  day's  life  on  the  Belgica. 
Rise  at  7.30  a.m.;  coffee  at  8 ;  9  to  10,  open  air 
exercise;  10  to  12,  scientific  work,  such  as  the  regu- 
lar meteorologic,  magnetic,  or  laboratory  tasks,  for 
the  officers ;  and  for  the  marines,  bringing  in  snow, 
melting  snow  for  water,  replenishing  the  ship's 
stores,  repairing  the  ship,  building  new  quarters, 
making  new  instruments,  and  doing  anything  which 
pertains  to  the  regular  work  of  the  expedition ;  1 2 
to  2  P.M.,  dinner  and  rest  or  recreation  ;  2  to  4, 
official  work  (regular  work  during  this  period  was 
suspended  for  the  greater  part  of  the  night)  ;  6  to  7, 
supper;  7  to  10,  card-playing,  music,  mending,  and, 
on  moonlight  nights,  excursions.  At  ten  o'clock  we 
went  to  sleep. 

Up  to  this  time  our  health  had  been  fairly  good. 

301 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

Excepting  a  few  light  attacks  of  rheumatism,  neu- 
ralgia, and  some  unimportant  traumatic  injuries, 
there  had  been  no  complaint.  We  ate  little,  how- 
ever, and  were  thoroughly  disgusted  with  canned 
foods.  We  had  tried  the  meat  of  the  penguins,  but 
to  the  majority  its  flavour  was  still  too  *'  fishy."  We 
entered  the  long  night  somewhat  underfed,  not  be- 
cause there  was  a  scarcity  of  food,  but  because  of  our 
unconquerable  dislike  for  such  as  we  had.  It  is 
possible  to  support  life  for  seven  or  eight  months 
upon  a  diet  of  canned  food ;  but  after  this  period 
there  is  something  in  the  human  system  which  makes 
it  refuse  to  utilise  the  elements  of  nutrition  contained 
in  tins.  Against  such  food,  even  for  a  short  period, 
the  stomach  protests  ;  confined  to  it  for  a  long  period, 
it  simply  refuses  to  exercise  its  functions.  Articles 
which  in  the  canning  retain  a  natural  appearance 
usually.remain,  especially  if  cooked  a  little,  friendly  to 
the  palate.  This  is  particularly  true  of  meat  retaining 
hard  fibers,  such  as  ham,  bacon,  dried  meats,  and 
corned  beef  It  is  also  true  of  fruits  preserved  in 
juices ;  and  vegetables,  such  as  peas,  corn,  tomatoes ; 
and  of  dried  things.  Unfortunately  this  class  of  food 
formed  a  small  part  of  our  store.  We  were  weighed 
down  with  the  supposed  finer  delicacies  of  the 
Belgian,  French,  and  Norwegian  markets.  We  had 
laboratory  mixtures  in  neat  cans,  combined  in  such 
a  manner  as  to  make  them  look  tempting  —  hashes 
under  various  catchy  names ;  sausage  stuffs  in 
deceptive  forms,  meat  and  fishballs  said  to  contain 
cream,  mysterious  soups,  and  all  the  latest  inven- 
tions in  condensed  foods.  But  they  one  and  all 
proved  failures,    as   a   steady  diet.      The   stomach 

302 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

demands  things  with  a  natural  fiber,  or  some 
tough,  gritty  substance.  At  this  time,  as  a  relief, 
we  would  have  taken  kindly  to  something  containing 
pebbles  or  sand.     How  we  longed  to  use  our  teeth  ! 

The  long  darkness,  the  isolation,  the  tinned  foods, 
the  continued  low  temperature,  with  increasing  storms 
and  a  high  humidity,  finally  reduced  our  systems  to 
what  we  call  polar  anaemia.  We  became  pale,  with  a 
kind  of  greenish  hue  ;  our  secretions  were  more  or 
less  suppressed.  The  stomach  and  all  the  organs 
were  sluggish,  and  refused  to  work.  Most  danger- 
ous of  all  were  the  cardiac  and  cerebral  symptoms. 
The  heart  acted  as  if  it  had  lost  its  regulating 
influence.  Its  action  was  feeble,  but  its  beats  were 
not  increased  until  other  dangerous  symptoms 
appeared.  Its  action  was  weak,  irregular,  and  en- 
tirely unreliable  throughout  the  night.  The  mental 
symptoms  were  not  so  noticeable.  The  men  were 
incapable  of  concentration,  and  unable  to  continue 
prolonged  thought.  One  sailor  was  forced  to  the 
verge  of  insanity,  but  he  recovered  with  the  return- 
ing sun.  The  first  to  feel  the  effects  of  polar  anaemia 
seriously  was  our  lamented  friend  and  companion. 
Lieutenant  Danco.  With  the  descent  of  the  sun 
began  the  beginning  of  his  end.  On  the  short 
journeys  which  we  took  during  the  few  moments  of 
noonday  twilight  Danco  complained  of  shortness 
of  breath.  Indeed,  we  all  had  some  difficulty  of 
respiration  upon  the  slightest  exercise,  but  Danco 
would  frequently  stand  still  and  gasp.  For  this  he 
came  under  medical  care  early  in  May,  but  in  spite 
of  every  effort  he  rapidly  sank. 

June  I. — It  is  now  difficult  to  get  out  of  our  warm 

303 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

beds  in  the  morning.  There  is  no  dawn, — nothing 
to  mark  the  usual  division  of  night  and  morning  un- 
til nearly  noon.  During  the  early  part  of  the  night 
it  is  next  to  impossible  to  go  to  sleep,  and  if  we  drink 
coffee  we  do  not  sleep  at  all.  When  we  do  sink  into 
a  slumber,  it  is  so  deep  that  we  are  not  easily  awak- 
ened. Our  appetites  are  growing  smaller  and  smaller, 
and  the  little  food  which  is  consumed  gives  much 
trouble.  Oh,  for  that  heavenly  ball  of  fire  !  Not  for 
the  heat — the  human  economy  can  regulate  that — 
but  for  the  light — the  hope  of  life. 

June  2. — The  night  was  very  cold  with  a  wind 
veering  from  south-west  to  west,  coming  in  puffs 
with  a  coldness  that  made  the  ice  and  the  rigging  of 
the  Belgica  groan.  At  about  six  o'clock  last  night, 
while  a  stiff  wind  was  blowing,  the  ice  fractured 
around  the  Belgica'dind  allowed  her  to  sink  gradually 
into  the  water  out  of  which  she  had  been  raised.  The 
squeaking  of  the  ship,  the  groaning  of  the  ice,  and  the 
howling  of  the  wind,  were  for  a  short  time  maddening. 
After  a  time  we  became  accustomed  to  this  and  sank 
our  anxiety  and  some  fear  (though  we  hesitated  to 
own  it)  in  a  lively  game  of  whist.  This  proved  to  be 
the  coldest  night  thus  far — 29°  C.  (  —20.2°  F.). 

I  had  resolved  to  rise  at  seven  o'clock,  but  owing  to 
the  lethargy  due  to  the  long  darkness  and  the  pro- 
found sleep,  I  did  not  find  myself  out  of  my  berth 
until  eleven.  When  I  arise  at  this  time  I  omit  the 
formality  of  a  breakfast,  and  of  this  my  stomach  does 
not  complain.  Four  months  ago,  during  the  antarc- 
tic summer,  to  omit  breakfast  would  have  been  to 
reject  one  of  the  delights  of  polar  life,  but  now  in  this 

304 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

melancholy  darkness  it  is  like  being  relieved  of  a 
weighty  duty. 

June  3. — The  men  forward  are  kept  busy  with  the 
usual  work  of  the  ship,  cleaning,  restowing,  repair- 
ing sails,  ropes,  and  woodwork,  etc.  One  man  is 
constantly  occupied  in  keeping  the  fires  going.  An- 
other man  keeps  up  the  supply  of  snow,  which  is 
melted  for  water.  The  work  of  sounding,  taking 
deep  sea  temperatures,  and  fishing,  keeps  many  busy. 
For  much  of  the  time  it  is  also  necessary  to  employ 
several  men  to  keep  the  vessel  well  banked  with  snow, 
and  the  observatories  need  a  similar  attention.  Thus 
the  sailors  are  evenly  occupied  in  easy  work  which 
keeps  them  from  feeling  the  melancholy  of  our  isola- 
tion from  the  world,  and  also  helps  them  to  forget 
the  prolonged  darkness  of  this  dayless  night. 

Our  floe  has  again  grown  to  encouraging  dimen- 
sions. From  the  mere  fragment,  which  remained 
after  the  last  severe  disturbance,  it  has  gradually 
taken  unto  itself  pan  after  pan,  until  now  we  can  no 
longer  see  its  end.  On  the  sky  we  observe  mouse- 
coloured  bands  at  noon,  which  tell  us  that  there  are 
a  few  fissures  where  a  heavy  mist  rises  from  the 
open  water.  This  is  the  usual  water-sky  in  minia- 
ture. From  the  shape  of  these  dark  streaks  we 
know  the  size  and  outline  of  the  open  water  under 
it.  The  bergs  change  position  a  little,  new  ones 
occasionally  crowd  over  our  horizon  and  remain  vis- 
ible a  short  time,  then  return  to  their  old  positions ; 
old  ones  turn  about  somewhat,  thus  presenting  a 
new  face  to  us.  Some  are  raised  by  a  mirage,  and 
all  are  buried  under  the  gloomy  veil  of  blackness 

305 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

which  Is  so  rapidly  spreading  over  the  once  white 
splendour. 

We  have  had  much  snow  within  a  fortnight, 
which  by  the  aid  of  the  varying  winds  has  drifted 
over  the  icy  hummocks  and  ridges,  raised  by  pressure, 
and  made  for  us  a  substitute  for  Mother  Earth 
once  more.  On  ski  and  snowshoes  we  can  again 
travel  about  for  miles  on  the  newly-assembled  old 
floe.  But  the  position  marking  the  old  leads  and 
lakes  is  still  difficult  for  pleasurable  journeys. 
These  places  resemble  in  their  contour  a  bird's- 
eye  view  of  a  large  city.  To  cross  them  is  as  if  we 
tried  to  cross  a  city  over  the  roofs  of  the  houses. 
Still,  it  is  possible  to  travel  in  this  wilderness  of  ice 
if  one  is  fortunate  enough  to  have  polar  patience, 
and  a  body  which  can  be  tossed  about  like  a  football. 
Our  floe,  with  all  its  roughness,  with  all  its  faults,  is 
nevertheless  a  providential  protection  to  the  good 
little  Belgica  and  a  godsend  to  its  occupants. 

We  are  all  eating  appreciably  less  now  than  dur- 
ing the  bright  season  —  and  either  there  is  a  con- 
stant inclination  to  sleep  or  persistent  insomnia.  We 
eat  an  amount  of  fat,  however,  that  would  surprise 
most  people ;  fat  pork,  fatty  meats,  the  pure  oil  of 
bacon,  and  tremendous  quantities  of  oleomargarine, 
are  consumed  with  apparent  relish.  This  is  to  me 
particularly  surprising  because  during  three  arc- 
tic voyages  I  never  noticed  any  particular  craving 
for  fat ;  but  this  I  ascribe  to  the  fact  that  we  always 
ate  liberally  of  fresh  meats  north,  and  these  we  have 
not  here.  •  We  eat  a  little  penguin  with  a  show  of 
pleasure,  but  most  of  us  are  quite  tired  of  its  marine 

306 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

flavour  and  fish-oil  smoothness.  If  we  had  sufficient 
ham  it  would  afford  immense  gastric  delight.  There 
is  much  indigestion  now — fermentation,  gastric  in- 
ertia, intestinal  and  gastric  pain,  imperfect  hepatic 
action,  and  a  general  suppression  of  all  the  digestive 
secretions.  The  heart  is  unsteady,  easily  disturbed, 
and  mitral  murmurs,  which  I  have  not  heard  before, 
are  audible.  Temperatures,  almost  without  excep- 
tion, are  subnormal.  The  breathing  is  often  difficult, 
the  blood  retreats  from  the  skin,  but  the  larger  veins 
are  abnormally  full.  Piles,  hemorrhoids,  headache, 
neuralgia,  rheumatism,  are  the  systemic  complaints; 
but  while  we  all  have  our  little  disorders,  no  one  is 
really  disabled. 


307 


CHAPTER  XXIII 

THE   SOUTH   POLAR   NIGHT  (CONTINUED)  — 
THE   DEATH    OF   DANCO 

The  weather  is  unendurable,  the  temperature  is 

—  30°  C.  and  an  easterly  gale  is  burying  us  in  a  huge 
drift  of  snow.  With  a  high  wind,  an  air  thick 
with  flying  snow,  and  a  temperature  such  as  we  have 
had  for  the  past  three  days,  ranging  from  — 28°  to 

—  30°,  it  is  utterly  impossible  to  exist  outside  in  the 
open  blast.  In  calm  weather  such  a  temperature 
causes  delight,  but  in  a  storm  it  gives  rise  to  despair. 
I  think  it  is  Conan  Doyle  who  says,  **  What  compan- 
ion is  there  like  the  great  restless,  throbbing  polar 
sea  ?  What  human  mood  is  there  which  it  does  not 
match  and  sympathise  with  ? "  I  should  like  Mr. 
Doyle  to  spend  one  month  with  us  on  this  great, 
restless,  throbbing  sea,  under  this  .dense,  restless, 
throbbing  blackness  of  the  antarctic  night.  I  am 
sure  he  would  find  conditions  to  drive  his  pen,  but 
where  is  the  companionship  of  a  sea  which  with 
every  heave  brings  a  block  of  ice  against  your  berth 
making  your  only  hope  of  life,  the  bark,  tremble 
from  end  to  end.     Where  is  the  human  being  who 

308 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

will  find  sympathy  in  the  howling  winds  under  the 
polar  night? 

For  several  days  our  beloved  companion  Danco 
has  been  failing.  From  nearly  the  very  first  day  of 
his  sickness  I  saw  that,  coming  upon  him  as  it  had 
done  in  the  dusk,  it  must  prove  fatal  during  the  long 
antarctic  night.  To  pass  through  a  polar  night,  with 
its  prolonged  and  awful  cold,  and  remain  well  is  a 
very  difficult  matter  even  for  a  man  with  sound  or- 
gans. One  who  has  not  these,  and  perfect  health, 
always  fares  badly  in  these  sunless  and  lifeless 
polar  days.  Danco  has  had,  unconsciously,  for 
years  a  serious  heart  defect.  For  a  time  the  heart 
walls  increased  in  strength  and  thus  a  safe  equilibrium 
was  established ;  but  to  keep  an  even  or  compensa- 
tory balance,  mild  exercise  was  necessary  in  the  open 
air  with  an  abundance  of  sunlight.  The  sun  has 
now  been  entirely  absent  for  more  than  a  fortnight, 
and  for  forty  days  its  light  has  been  of  no  physio- 
logical service.  The  atmosphere  has  been  so  con- 
stantly filled  with  snow  and  ice-crystals  that,  at  best, 
the  sun  shone  with  less  brilliancy  than  the  moon, 
and  that  only  for  a  few  moments  at  midday.  During 
all  of  this  time  Danco  has  not  felt  well ;  his  manly 
courage,  however,  is  such  that  he  will  not  complain. 
But  as  the  darkness  becomes  blacker,  and  the  frigid 
night  advances  he  has  been  compelled  to  surrender 
himself  a  candidate  to  the  sick  list. 

June  4. — The  ice  is  again  breaking  and  the  pres- 
sure of  the  floes,  as  they  ride  over  each  other,  makes 
a  noise  converting  the  otherwise  dark  quietude  into 
a  howling  scene  of  groans.    It  is  again  snowing  and 

309 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

the  wind  keeps  veering  from  the  north-west  to  north- 
east. 

Whenever  we  have  advanced  on  our  mysterious 
drift  with  the  restless  pack,  either  far  east  or  far 
south,  or  both,  we  are  arrested  in  our  progress  and 
the  temperature  falls.  In  the  east  there  is  also  great 
pressure,  and  it  is  only  in  the  far  east  or  south  that 
we  get  easterly  or  southerly  winds.  These  winds 
have  the  character  of  land  breezes — extremely  dry, 
with  a  low  temperature — followed  by  delightful,  clear 
weather.  From  these  facts  we  must  conclude  that 
the  east  and  south  are  lined  with  land  of  large  pro- 
portions or  islands  united  by  ice.  An  easy  wind 
south  or  west  drives  us  quickly;  indeed,  at  times  we 
drift  northward  without  wind.  The  bergs  now  seem 
to  press  north  and  east. 

June  5. — To-day  we  have  to  record  the  darkest 
page  in  our  log — the  death  of  our  beloved  comrade, 
Danco.  It  has  not  been  unexpected,  for  we  have 
known  that  he  could  not  recover,  but  the  awful 
blank  left  by  his  demise  is  keenly  felt,  and  the  sud- 
den gloom  of  despair,  thus  thrown  over  the  entire 
party,  is  impossible  of  description.  Poor  fellow  !  in 
the  past  forty-eight  hours  he  had  been  steadily  im- 
proving, and,  although  we  were  not  encouraged  by 
this,  he  felt  so  much  better  that  he  was  cheerful  and 
altogether  more  like  his  former  self,  but  it  was  the 
calm  before  the  storm.  Without  any  premonition  of 
his  coming  death  Danco  passed  away  easily  to- 
night; his  last  words  to  me  were,  "  I  can  breathe 
lighter  and  will  soon  get  strength."  A  companion 
with  noble  traits  has  left  us.     The  event  is  too  sad 

310 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

to  note  in  detail.  His  life  has  steadily  and  persist- 
ingly  sunk  with  the  northerly  setting  of  the  sun.  In 
ordinary  health,  his  circulation  was  so  nicely  balanced 
that  it  needed  but  the  unbalancing  element  of  the 
prolonged  darkness  to  disturb  the  equilibrium,  and 
send  him  to  a  premature  grave. 

June  7. — We  have  made  a  bag  of  sail-cloth,  and 
into  it  the  remains  of  Danco  have  been  sewn.  This 
morning  we  searched  the  crevasses  for  an  open- 
ing which  might  serve  as  a  grave.  We  found 
no  place  sufficiently  open,  but  with  axes  and  chisels 
we  cut  an  aperture  through  the  young  ice  in  a  recent 
lead,  about  one  hundred  yards  from  the  bark.  Owing 
to  the  depressing  effect  upon  the  party,  we  found  it 
necessary  to  place  the  body  outside  on  the  ice  upon 
a  sledge  the  day  after  the  death.  At  a  few  minutes 
before  noon  to-day  the  commandant,  followed  by 
the  officers  and  scientific  staff,  came  to  this  sledge. 
The  crew,  dressed  in  an  outer  suit  of  duck,  then 
marched  out  and,  taking  the  drag  rope,  they  pro- 
ceeded over  the  rough  drifts  southerly  to  the  lead. 
The  day  was  bitterly  cold,  with  a  wind  coming  out  of 
the  south-west.  Much  snow  in  fine  crystals  was 
driven  through  the  air,  and  it  pierced  the  skin  like 
needles.  The  surface  of  the  ice  was  gray,  but  the  sky 
had  here  and  there  a  touch  of  brightness.  In  the 
north  there  was  a  feeble  metallic  glow,  and  directly 
overhead  there  were  a  few  stratus  of  rose-coloured 
clouds.  The  moon,  fiery,  with  a  ragged  edge,  hung 
low  on  the  southern  sky.  There  was  light  enough  to 
read  ordinary  print,  but  it  was  a  weird  light.  Danco 
was  a  favourite  among  the  sailors,  and  his  departure 

311 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

was  as  keenly  felt  in  the  forecastle  as  among  us.  The 
men  expressed  this  in  the  funeral  procession.  Slowly 
but  steadily  they  marched  over  the  rough  surface  of 
the  ice  with  an  air  of  inexpressible  sadness.  The 
sledge  was  brought  to  the  freezing  water.  Here  the 
commandant  made  a  few  fitting  remarks,  and  then 
two  heavy  weights  were  attached  to  the  feet,  and  the 
body  was  entrusted  to  the  frosted  bosom  of  the  ant- 
arctic ocean. 

June  8. — The  melancholy  death,  and  the  inci- 
dents of  the  sad  burial  of  Danco,  have  brought 
over  us  a  spell  of  despondency  which  we  seem 
unable  to  conquer.  I  fear  that  this  feeling  will 
remain  with  us  for  some  time,  and  we  can  ill  afford 
it.  Though  there  are  none  among  us  sick  at  this 
time,  we  may  at  any  moment  have  small  complaints 
which  will  become  serious  under  this  death-dealing 
spell  of  despair.  We  are  constantly  picturing  to 
ourselves  the  form  of  our  late  companion  floating 
about  in  a  standing  position,  with  the  weights  to  his 
feet,  under  the  frozen  surface  and  perhaps  under  the 
Belgica. 

June  lo. — The  temperature  remains  low.  Yester- 
day it  fell  to  —  32°  C.  (  —  25.6°  F.),  and  it  seems  to 
linger  about  the  twenties.  The  weather  is  more 
and  more  settled  and  steady,  as  the  night  advances 
and  the  cold  increases.  The  wind  is  moderate,  and 
it  intermits  with  calm  periods,  but  the  barometer 
is  very  high.  There  is  little  movement  in  the  ice; 
all  the  crevasses  and  leads  are  closed  by  new  ice, 
and  the  Belgica's  berth  is  now  positively  secure 
for  a  long  time    to    come.      The    small   floes,  intp 

312 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

which  the  Ice  was  broken  ten  days  ago,  have  been 
pushed  over  and  under  each  other  in  such  a  man- 
ner, that  the  bark  has  been  raised  out  of  the  water 
with  an  uncomfortable  Hst.  We  have  seen  no  Hfe 
for  a  long  time,  but  there  is  no  open  water  near. 
We  are  inclined  to  believe  that  when  there  is  a 
space  of  open  sea  there  will  be  found  some  life, 
even  at  this  time. 

It  is  the  doctor's  birthday.  We  have  had  a 
special  feast  with  champagne.  Many  efforts  were 
made  to  lighten  the  spirits  of  the  men,  but  our  efforts 
were  only  of  temporary  duration.  The  captain  has 
made  the  greatest  endeavour  to  break  the  spell  of 
*'  shivers  "  which  hung  over  us.  He  fixed  up  in  his 
full-dress  suit,  and  induced  the  doctor  to  do  the 
same.  In  this  costume  we  came  to  the  dining  table, 
and  took  the  cabin  by  surprise.  After  a  half- 
hearted meal,  a  full-hearted  exchange  of  greetings 
followed  a  certificate  of  honour,  presented  by  Cap- 
tain Lecointe. 

Doctor  Cook: 

I  make  fast  the  occasion  of  your  anniversary  in 

order  to  exprime  all  the  sympathy  you  suggest  to  me. 

In  proof  of  that  friendship,  and  because  of  that 

great  day,  I  take  the  engagement  to  repair  one  pair 

of  your  knit  stockings. 

Dixi, 

G.  Lecointe. 
Antarctic  Ocean,  S.  Y.  Belgica,  June  lo,  1898. 

The  amusement,  however,  was  expensive  to  us, 
for  we  shivered  and  felt  most  uncomfortable.     We 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

had  not  worn  stiff  collars  nor  boiled  shirts  in  seven 
months;  nor  had  we  the  custom  of  arranging  neckties 
and  holding  our  heads  and  bodies  steady  enough  for 
the  tight  fit  of  our  suits.  Lecointe  made  a  nautical 
observation  in  the  suit  with  an  ordinary  winter  over- 
coat. The  temperature  was  about  —  20°  C.  The 
stars  used  for  the  observation  were  Jupiter  and  Canis 
Majoris,  and  the  position  as  fixed  was  latitude 
71^  2d  7'',  longitude  87°  17'  50''.  Lecointe  de- 
clared that  he  would  never  try  the  experiment  again. 
He  came  to  the  cabin  shivering  with  a  chill,  which  did 
not  entirely  pass  off  for  some  minutes. 

June  12. — The  barometer  still  continues  very  high, 
but  we  are  momentarily  expecting  a  reaction.  Al- 
ready the  temperature  has  risen  from—  25°to  —  2°C., 
and  it  promises  to  rise  still  more.  The  west  is  black, 
and  out  of  its  gloom  comes  a  half-gale  with  wet 
snow.  The  Belgica,  feeling  the  effect  of  the  sud- 
den change  in  the  temperature,  is  alive  with  weird 
noises.  The  masts,  the  spars,  the  ropes,  and  every 
projecting  object  have  long  been  covered  by  a  thick 
encasement  of  accumulating  hoar-frost.  Heavy  pieces 
of  this  ice-plating  are  loosened  by  the  warm  draught 
of  the  winds  and  they  fall  to  the  decks  below  with 
thunderous  bolts.  The  bark  changes  its  position 
in  its  bed  of  ice  somewhat  like  its  occupants  in  their 
bunks,  and  this  is  followed  by  a  long  series  of  jars 
and  groans.  Altogether,  the  noise  outside  and  in  is 
maddening.  We  hope  for  a  speedy  return  of  cold 
weather  to  our  favourite  temperature  somewhat 
below  —  20°  C. 

June    16. —  No  wind;    a  few   cirrus  and   stratus 

314 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

clouds  ;  the  stars  at  zenith  are  visible  at  noon.  The 
Southern  Cross  over  the  mizzenmast  is  arrayed  in  all 
its  glory.  The  sun  has  only  five  minutes  more  to  re- 
cede before  it  reaches  the  equinox,  and  then  it  will 
come  back  slowly  and  perceptibly,  with  its  life-giving 
rays.  We  are  drifting  eastward,  but  there  is  no 
sign  of  movement  in  the  ice, —  no  cracks,  no  leads, 
no  lakes. 

June  17. — We  are  still  drifting  eastward,  slowly 
but  steadily,  which  fact  suggests  several  questions : 
Is  there  land  to  the  eastward  or  southward  ?  If  so, 
what  is  its  character?  If  not,  why  are  the  easterly 
and  southerly  winds  cold  and  dry,  and  why  are  we 
checked  in  our  drift,  after  passing  far  eastward  or 
southward  ?  There  are  but  two  explanations.  First : 
It  is  possible  that  we  are  far  off  a  continuous  coast 
line,  or  nearly  so,  in  which  case  the  ice  near  the  land, 
with  a  westerly  wind,  would  be  forced  toward  the 
point  of  least  resistance,  which  w^ould  generally  be 
north.  This  would  explain  what  we  have  often 
noticed,  a  northerly  drift  with  a  westerly  wind.  But 
even  with  our  checked  progress  we  seem  to  move 
eastward  too  quickly  for  such  a  condition  of  things. 
The  next  probability  seems  to  explain  better  our 
actual  experience.  The  second  explanation  is,  that 
the  easterly  drift  of  the  ice  is  only  checked  by  a  few 
widely  separated  islands  through  which  the  pack  is 
forced  into  the  Weddell  sea  by  the  prevailing 
wind.  When  the  sun  returns,  and  the  ice  loosens 
its  grasp  on  our  bark,  we  hope  to  clear  up  this 
mystery. 

We  are  having  considerable  trouble  in  keeping 

315 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

our  stoves  burning.  With  the  use  of  soft  coal  it  is 
necessary  to  disturb  the  fire  often,  which  makes  the 
air  unendurable  because  of  the  escape  of  poisonous 
gases,  while  it  also  fills  the  room  with  smoke  and  soot 
and  ashes.  The  moisture  which  leaves  the  room 
through  the  stove  draughts  is  condensed  in  the  pipes 
and  mixed  with  soot ;  the  whole  mass  freezes,  which 
occludes  the  opening  of  the  pipe.  To  remove  this 
obstruction  it  is  necessary  to  take  out  the  pipes  once 
weekly  and  clean  them,  an  operation  of  no  little  conse- 
quence in  polar  regions.  This  is  the  second  expedi- 
tion with  which  I  have  been  connected  where  we 
have  had  the  same  trouble.  It  would  be  entirely 
overcome  by  the  use  of  anthracite  coal  for  the  winter 
fires,  instead  of  the  bituminous,  with  its  unnecessary 
filth. 

Mr.  Peary  has  tried  to  overcome  this  by  a  substi- 
tion  of  oil  stoves,  but  such  a  procedure,  in  my  judg- 
ment, is  not  only  accompanied  by  a  polluted  atmos- 
phere causing  headaches,  insomnia,  and  difficulty 
of  respiration,  but  it  is  quite  dangerous  to  life.  A 
coal  fire  removes  from  a  room  most  of  its  poisonous 
gases  and  keeps  up  a  free  circulation  of  air,  but  an 
oil  stove  does  just  the  reverse.  An  oil  or  a  gas  stove 
consumes  air  in  a  somewhat  similar  manner  to  man. 
It  burns  oxygen  and  gives  off  carbon  dioxide  and 
other  gases.  An  ordinary  oil  stove  will  consume  as 
much  oxygen  as  fifteen  men,  and  it  does  not  replace 
the  polluted  air,  as  does  a  coal  or  wood  fire.  There 
is  another  point,  which  has  been  too  little  regarded 
in  polar  ventures^  During  the  long  months  of  win- 
ter darkness  the  life-giving  rays  of  the  sun  are  with- 

316 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

drawn,  leaving  the  summer  whiteness  of  the  earth 
in  cold  and  despondent  blackness.  Bright  artificial 
lights  relieve  this  to  some  extent,  but  all  the  animal 
organism  is  in  a  condition  similar  to  that  of  a  planet 
deprived  of  the  direct  sunlight.  The  skin  is  pale, 
the  muscles  are  weak,  and  the  organs  refuse  to  per- 
form their  functions  with  usual  vigour.  This  effect 
is  most  noticeable  in  the  action  of  the  heart  which, 
during  the  long  night,  is  deprived  of  its  regulating 
force ;  now  quick,  now  slow ;  then  strong,  again 
feeble,  but  never  normal.  The  best  substitute  for 
this  absence  of  the  sun  is  the  direct  rays  of  heat 
from  an  open  fire.  From  an  ordinary  coal  or  wood 
fire  the  effect  is  wonderful.  I  have  stripped  and 
placed  men,  before  the  direct  rays  of  heat,  whose 
pulse  was  almost  imperceptible,  and  in  the  course 
of  less  than  an  hour  had  a  heart  action  nearly 
normal.  From  an  oil  stove  it  is  quite  impossible  to 
get  this  effect,  hence  its  use  in  polar  regions  should 
be  confined  to  camp  life. 

The  selection  of  proper  means  for  obtaining  arti- 
ficial light  is  quite  as  important  as  that  of  heat. 
Electric  light  is  ideal,  but  the  means  for  obtaining 
electricity  are  not  easily  transported.  Candles  are 
said  to  be  the  safest  and  best  for  general  use  ;  but  the 
illumination  of  a  single  candle  is  so  feeble  that  each 
man  must  have  one  or  more  in  general  use.  From 
this  it  results  that  candles  are  posted  in  all  parts  of 
tlie  rooms, — in  the  bunks  and  other  nooks  where  a 
conflagration  might  easily  originate.  Hence  the 
danger  of  a  fire  by  candles  is  quite  as  great  as  that 
of  petroleum  lamps,  while  the  light  is  far  inferior  to 

Z^7 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

It.  A  good  petroleum  lamp  is  undoubtedly  the 
most  practical.  But  even  a  petroleum  lamp  has  its 
drawbacks  in  polar  regions.  .  On  the  Belgica  we  had 
several,  and  about  fifty  glass  chimneys,  all  of  which 
were  broken  during  the  past  few  weeks  of  the  ant- 
arctic night.  We  were  then  bound  to  utilise  the  ingen- 
uity of  the  mechanics  on  board  to  make  substitutes. 
The  geologist,  who  is  a  chemist  by  profession,  made 
the  first  trial  with  glass  tubes ;  this  was  better  than 
nothing,  but  the  assistant  engineer  next  took  the 
matter  in  hand,  and  after  a  time  became  quite  a 
lamp  specialist.  He  altered  the  construction  of  the 
lamp  and  of  the  burner;  made  chimneys  of  glass 
jelly  jars,  removing  the  bottom  and  placing  over  all 
a  zinc  funnel.  On  the  whole  it  was  a  very  happy 
contrivance,  and  while  it  was  not  quite  perfect  it 
served  the  purpose  for  which  it  was  intended,  during 
the  balance  of  the  black  night. 

June  19. — A  midwinter  and  a  midnight  thaw,  with 
the  ice  breaking  and  pressing  upon  the  vessel,  is 
the  most  dreadful  thing  which  could  happen  to  us 
now.  But  it  is  just  this  most  despairing  condition 
of  ice  and  weather  which  is  threatening  us  in  these 
darkest  days  of  the  midnight.  The  temperature  and 
the  wind  for  three  days  have  suddenly  risen.  It  is  now 
blowing  a  gale  from  the  west.  The  temperature  is 
—  2°;  the  ice  is  breaking  and  separating,  leaving 
wide  endless  leads  running  northward  and  southward. 
Between  the  gloomy  clouds  northward  there  is  a  faint 
suggestion  of  brightness,  but  this  only  seems  to  in- 
crease our  longing  for  light.  It  is  dark !  dark ! 
Dark  at  noon,  dark  at  midnight,  dark  every  hour  of 

318 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

the  day.  And  thus  we  jog  along  day  after  day, 
through  the  unbroken  sameness.  There  is  plenty  of 
work  close  at  hand.  The  weather  should  be  care- 
fully studied;  the  sky  and  the  frozen  sea  contain 
problems  for  solution.  We  are  in  a  world  unknown, 
but  just  at  present  we  care  little  about  our  novel 
position  or  our  future  rewards. 

The  darkness  grows  daily  a  little  deeper,  and  the 
night  soaks  hourly  a  little  more  colour  from  our 
blood.  Our  gait  is  now  careless,  the  step  non- 
elastic,  the  foothold  uncertain.  The  hair  grows 
quickly,  like  plants  in  a  hot-house,  but  there  is  a 
great  change  in  the  colour.  Most  of  us  in  the 
cabin  have  grown  decidedly  gray  within  two  months, 
though  few  are  over  thirty.  Our  faces  are  drawn, 
and  there  is  an  absence  of  jest  and  cheer  and  hope 
in  our  make-up  which,  in  itself,  is  one  of  the  saddest 
incidents  in  our  existence.  There  is  no  one  willing 
to  openly  confess  the  force  of  the  night  upon  him- 
self, but  the  novelty  of  life  has  been  worn  out  and 
the  cold,  dark  outside  world  is  incapable  of  intro- 
ducing anything  new.  The  moonlight  comes  and 
goes  alike,  during  the  hours  of  midday  as  at  mid- 
night. The  stars  glisten  over  the  gloomy  snows. 
We  miss  the  usual  poetry  and  adventure  of  home 
winter  nights.  We  miss  the  flushed  maidens,  the 
jingling  bells,  the  spirited  horses,  the  inns,  the 
crackling  blaze  of  the  country  fire.  We  miss  much 
of  life  which  makes  it  worth  the  trouble  of  existence. 

At  noon  some  of  us  went  on  a  ski  journey,  and 
about  a  mile  south-east  of  the  ship  we  were  stopped 
by  a  wide  lead  of  inky  water,  extending  north  and 

319 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

south  as  far  as  the  sight  could  reach.  The  darkness 
was  such  that  we  dared  not  approach  closely  to  the 
open  sea.  We  were  anxious  to  search  the  fringe  of 
ice  bordering  on  the  gloomy  water  for  animal  life, 
and  discussed  the  possibilities  for  some  time,  but  the 
thickening  veil  of  darkness  drew  over  us  tighter  and 
tighter  as  we  waited.  Looking  toward  the  Belgica 
we  saw  that  she  was  already  nearly  obscured  by 
the  sooty  blackness,  which  was  falling  from  the  noon- 
day heavens.  Looking  over  the  silent  and  endless 
sea  of  ice,  however,  the  aspect  was  not  one  of 
night.  A  subdued  glow  seemed  to  rise  from  the 
white  snows  and  illuminate  the  lower  stratas  of  air ; 
but  this  was  only  apparent.  Nearly  all  irregulari- 
ties were  obscured  or  distorted.  Huge  hummocks, 
ten  to  twenty  feet  high,  were  not  observed  until  we 
stumbled  against  them.  Small  elevations,  with  sharp 
angles,  sometimes  produced  a  mirage  like  that  ot  an 
iceberg  at  a  great  distance.  We  would  glide  along 
leisurely  on  ski  and  suddenly  find  that  we  had 
crossed  this  huge  obstacle, — in  reality  only  a  few 
inches  in  height. 

For  the  past  month  we  have  not  felt  like  writing. 
Our  humour  and  our  ambition  are  not  such  as  to  make 
us  transfer  ideas  to  paper  easily.  If  I  could  write 
poetry  I  should  like  to  select  the  topics  of  conversa- 
tion as  subjects  for  gloomy  moods, — for  we  certainly 
painted  the  skies  darker,  and  made  the  snow  blacker, 
than  they  ever  appeared  in  reality.  We  made  a  feeble 
attempt  to  lift  the  gloomy  seal,  now  and  then,  by  a 
superficial  humour, — a  sort  of  frothy  effervescence  of 

320 


ANTARCTIC   NIGHT 

the  soul,  but  the  efforts  were  as  feeble  as  our  anaemic 
muscular  fibres.  The  long  polar  night  lies  heavily 
upon  us.  Our  health  has  suffered  considerably.  We 
have  not  been  so  fortunate  as  Nansen's  party,  if  we 
may  accept  Nansen's  account  of  the  health  of  his 
crew  at  the  dawn  of  the  arctic  day.  With  a  few 
boastful  remarks  he  passes  over  the  physical  effects 
of  the  arctic  night,  and  concludes  to  his  own  elation 
that  they  felt  none  of  the  usual  complaints  ;  but  since 
it  is  reported  that  one  of  the  best  men  has  returned 
mentally  deranged,  of  which  Nansen  leaves  us  in 
ignorance,  we  may  infer  that  other  matters  have 
also  slipped  his  memory.  It  is  not  possible  for  an 
expedition,  with  twelve  men,  to  live  three  years  in  the 
arctic  or  any  other  region  without  some  bodily  ail- 
ments. These  are  as  certain  as  human  sins,  and 
quite  as  interesting,  but  we  look  for  them  in  vain  in 
Nansen's  narrative.  Perhaps  Dr.  Blessing  or  some 
other  member  of  the  expedition  will  give  us  a  more 
serious  account. 

In  my  experience  with  polar  expeditions,  and  from 
every  reliable  record  which  I  have  been  able  to  find 
where  the  observations  have  been  given  by  honest 
and  competent  observers,  there  is  a  general  agree- 
ment in  the  description  of  the  physical  effects  of  the 
polar  night.  Anaemia,  or  a  condition  allied  to  it,  in 
one  form  or  another  and  under  various  descriptions 
is  always  found  if  sought  by  an  experienced  eye. 
This  malady  we  have  had  in  by  far  the  severest  form 
which  I  have  noticed  in  any  arctic  experiences,  and 
more  severe  than  is  recorded  in  the  literature  of  polar 

321 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

exploration.  We  have  lost  one  officer,  and  a  second 
barely  escaped  death.  The  marines  are  all  afflicted ; 
the  condition  is  truly  alarming.  At  present  I  have 
the  captain  in  the  "baking  treatrnent."  He  is  pale 
and  yellowish,  with  a  feeble,  almost  imperceptible, 
pulse  of  from  loo  to  140, — his  recovery,  while  hope- 
ful, is  uncertain. 


322 


CHAPTER   XXIV 

THE  SOUTH   POLAR  NIGHT  (CONTINUED). 
MIDNIGHT  TO  DAWN 

June  2  2. — It  is  midnight  and  midwinter.  Thirty- 
five  long,  dayless  nights  have  passed.  An  equal 
number  of  dreary,  cheerless  days  must  elapse  before 
we  again  see  the  glowing  orb,  the  star  of  day,  The 
sun  has  reached  its  greatest  northern  declination. 
We  have  thus  passed  the  antarctic  midnight.  The 
winter  solstice  is  to  us  the  meridian  day,  the  zenith 
of  the  night  as  much  so  as  twelve  o'clock  is  the  me- 
ridian hour  to  those  who  dwell  in  the  more  favoured 
lands,  in  the  temperate  and  tropical  zones,  where 
there  is  a  regular  day  and  night  three  hundred  and 
sixty-five  times  in  the  yearly  cycle.  Yesterday  was 
the  darkest  day  of  the  night ;  a  more  dismal  sky  and 
a  more  depressing  scene  could  not  be  imagined,  but 
to-day  the  outlook  is  a  little  brighter.  The  sky  is 
lined  with  a  few  touches  of  orange,  the  frozen  sea  of 
black  snow  is  made  more  cheerful  by  the  high  lights, 
with  a  sort  of  dull  phospherescent  glimmer  of  the 
projecting  peaks  of  ice.  The  temperature  has  sud- 
denly fallen  to — 27.5°  C.  at  noon,  and  the  wind  is 
coming  out  of  the  south  with  an  easy  force  which 

323 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

has  sent  all  the  floating  humidity  of  the  past  few 
days  down,  leaving  an  air  clear  and  sharp.  There 
will  be  an  eclipse  of  one  of  the  satellites  of  Jupiter 
this  afternoon,  and  from  an  observation  of  this  phe- 
nomenon the  industrious  captain  expects  to  regulate 
our  chronometers.  He  hopes  also  to  get  a  good  ob- 
servation to  fix  our  position,  for  we  are  somewhat 
anxious  to  know  just  where  we  are  in  this  unknown 
world  during  the  important  days  of  the  midnight. 

June  24.  —  For  the  past  three  days  we  have  had 
steady  cold  weather  with  a  temperature  from—  15^ 
to  —  28°  C.  (—18.4°  F.),  and  every  night  we  have 
also  had  a  brilliant  aurora  in  the  usual  position,  at 
about  the  usual  hour.  Auroras  have  been  con- 
spicuously absent  from  our  skies  for  nearly  two 
months.  There  was  a  feeble  display  on  May 
twenty-ninth,  and  possibly  a  few  faint  exhibits  have 
evaded  our  notice,  but  since  the  end  of  April  there 
has  been  no  auroral  phenomenon  which  has  attracted 
general  interest.  With  this  clear  weather  there  is  a 
noticeable  brightness  at  noon.  To-day  the  northern 
sky  has  a  tinge  of  orange-red,  limited  by  a  band  of 
green  with  a  bit  of  the  moon  over  it.  Overhead  we 
can  see  the  Cross  and  other  stars  of  the  same  magni- 
tude. Our  position,  as  calculated  yesterday,  is  now 
far  east,  latitude  70^  47'  45'',  longitude  St,^  43'  45''. 
A  sounding  at  this  point  would  be  interesting.  For 
this  purpose  we  have  tried  to  cut  a  new  hole  through 
the  ice.  The  old  opening  was  closed  by  the  distur- 
bance and  pressure  of  a  fortnight  ago,  and  since  we 
have  not  been  able  to  make  another,  but  to-day  we 
are  desperately  at  work,  chopping  and  cutting  ice 

324 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 


for  a  fishing.and>sounclIng*hole.  Havingj^found  that 
the  canvas^  .suits)  [arei  entirely  inadequate  ^tONretaini 
the  bodily  heat,  we  are  also  trying  to  devise 'some 
more  effective  clothing. 

June  26. —  It  is  Sunday  ;  the  weather  is  warm,  wet, 
and  too  stormy  to  permit  ou^-  usual  Sabbath  excur- 
sions. We  are  playing  cards  and  grinding  the  music- 
boxes,  and  trying  in  various  ways  to  throw  off  the 
increasing  gloom  of  the  night ;  but  something  has 
happened  which  has  added  another  cloud  to  the  hell  of 
blkckness  which  enshrouds  us.  One  of  the  sailors 
brought  with  him  from  Europe  a  beautiful  young 
kitten.  This  kitten  has  been  named  "  Nansen,"  and 
it  has  steadily  grown  into 
our  affections.  "  Nansen  " 
was  at  home  alike  in  the 
forecastle  and  in  the  cab- 
in, but  with  characteristic 
good  sense  he  did  not  ven- 
ture out  on  exploring  trips. 
A  temperature  thirty  de- 
grees below  zero  was  not 
to  his  liking ;  the  quarters 

about  the  stove  and  the  bed  Nansen,  the  Mascot. 

of  a    favourite     sailor    were  Drawn  by  Koren,  the  cabin  Boy. 

his  choice.  Since  the  commencement  of  the  long 
darkness  he  has  been  ill  at  ease,  but  previously  he 
was  happy  and  contented,  and  glad  to  be  petted 
andJoVed  by  everybody.  The  long  night,  however, 
brought  out  all  the  bad  qualities  of  his  ancestors. 
For  nearly  a  month  he  has  been  in  a  kind  of  stupour, 
eating  very  liftle  and  sleeping  much.  If  we  tried  to 

325 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

arouse  him  he  displayed  considerable  anger.  We 
have  brought  in  a  penguin  occasionally  to  try  to  in- 
fuse new  ambitions  and  a  new  friendship  in  the  cat, 
but  both  the  penguin  and  the  cat  were  contented  to 
take  to  opposite  corners  of  the  room.  Altogether 
'*  Nansen "  seemed  thoroughly  disgusted  with  his 
surroundings  and  his  associates,  and  lately  he  has 
sought  exclusion  in  unfrequented  corners.  His  tem- 
perament has  changed  from  the  good  and  lively  crea- 
ture to  one  of  growling  discontent.  His  mind  has 
wandered  and  from  his  changed  spiritual  attitude  we 
believe  that  his  soul  has  wandered  too.  A  day  or 
two  ago  his  life  departed,  we  presume  for  more  con- 
genial regions.  We  are  glad  that  his  torture  is 
ended,  but  we  miss  "  Nansen  "  very  much.  He  has 
been  the  attribute  to  our  good  fortune  to  the  present, 
the  only  speck  of  sentimental  life  within  reach.  We 
have  showered  upon  him  our  affections,  but  the  long 
darkness  has  made  him  turn  against  us.  In  the 
future  we  shall  be  without  a  mascot  and  what  will  be 
our  fate  ? 

June  29.  —  Since  my  last  writing  there  has  been 
nothing  to  mark  time  or  disturb  the  gloom  of  the 
long  black  monotony.  The  temperature  has  been 
high  with  its  usual  accompaniment  of  stormy  discom- 
fort. Yesterday  and  the  day  before  the  thermom- 
eter rose  to  zero  and  everybody  accordingly  rose  to 
a  spirit  of  discontent.  Such  disaffections  are  always 
heaped  upon  the  meteorologist  who  is  blamed  for 
all  the  freaks  of  the  weather,  but  he  receives  no 
credit  for  the  blessings  of  the  steady  cold  weather 
which  we  like. 

326 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

July  4. —  It  is  the  day  of  the  Declaration  of  Inde- 
pendence of  the  United  States.  With  characteristic 
Belgian  thoughtfulness  the  Commandant  has  ord- 
ered a  special  feast  and  has  sent  up  the  Stars  and 
Stripes  to  float  over  the  Belgica  to  be  waved  by  the 
virgin  antarctic  breezes.  America  and  American 
affairs  are  the  topics  around  which  our  ideas  revolve 
to-day.  It  is  curious  to  watch  our  thoughts  wheel 
around  the  incidents  of  current  events.  The  beauty 
contest  in  April  was  succeeded  by  heated  discussions 
and  sentimental  philosophy  for  several  weeks.  This 
was  followed  by  the  serious  sentiments  caused  by  the 
last  sight  of  the  sun  and  the  death  of  Danco.  Then 
followed  a  lot  of  light  talk  about  "  Nansen,"  the  cat, 
and  his  future.  Has  he  a  soul  and  is  there  a  Heaven 
for  him?  To-day  we  are  building  up  a  United 
States  of  Europe,  and  are  dreaming  of  annexing 
Canada  and  all  of  South  America  into  one  grand 
Union  of  States. 

There  is  a  strong,  steady,  westerly  wind  charged 
with  great  quantities  of  drift  snow.  The  ice  is 
separating,  leaving  wide,  endless,  ice-free  leads  run- 
ning north  and  south.  In  these  we  have  seen  a  few 
finback  whales,  spouting,  and  sporting,  and  court- 
ing, in  the  midday  twilight.  The  increasing  light  at 
noon  is  now  very  evident.  From  10  a.  m.  to  2  p.  m. 
on  bright  days  it  is  clear  enough  to  make  ski  runs 
over  the  pack,  without  tumbling  over  the  many 
hummocks  which  a  week  ago  were  invisible.  Though 
the  curtain  of  night  is  lifting,  the  men,  when  care- 
fully examined,  show  an  alarming  physical  condi- 
tion.   Almost  everybody  when  questioned  vows  that 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

he  feels  well,  complaining  only  of  a  lack  of  ambi- 
tion, but  the  actual  condition  is  otherwise.  We  are 
pale  and  green  about  the  facial  folds.  A  slight  ex- 
ercise makes  us  g'asp  for  breath,  and  the  heart  runs 
at  an  alarming  speed.  We  now  make  it  a  rule 
to  take  an  hour's  walk  outside  in  a  path  about  the 
bark,  and  during  these  walks  the  men  easily  freeze 
parts  of  the  face,  the  fingers  and  toes,  without  know- 
ing it.  The  reason  for  this  is  the  blunted  condition 
of  our  senses  and  the  enfeebled  circulation,  with  im- 
perfect blood. 

July  8. — The  temperature  is  again  falling ;  to-day 
it  is  —30°  C.  (-  22°  F.)  All  of  the  leads  and  open 
spaces  of  water  of  a  few  days  ago  are  covered  with 
ice  thick  enough  to  travel  over  without  fear  of 
breaking  through.  In  this  new  ice  there  are  small 
holes  about  two  inches  in  diameter.  Along  the 
edge  of  these  holes  is  a  ring  of  silvery  hoar-frost, 
and  out  of  it  there  comes  a  jet  of  vapour  every  few 
minutes.  These  are  the  blow-holes  of  seals,  and  the 
puff  of  vapour  is  the  expired  air  of  the  animals  as 
they  breathe.  We  have  been  anxious  to  see  these 
seals,  for  we  have  seen  none  since  sunset,  more 
than  fifty  days  ago.  They  must  have  come  south- 
ward from  the  outer  edges  of  the  pack,  through 
the  open  leads  a  few  days  ago.  In  travelling  over 
the  new  ice  we  found  a  place  to-night  where  the 
new  ice  had  been  broken,  and  out  of  it  came  one 
seal  after  another,  until  about  twenty  had  mounted 
to  the  surface  of  the  old  ice.  They  all  marched 
towards  us,  and  when  within  fifteen  feet  they 
stopped,  sniffed  the  air,  grunted,  showed  their  teeth, 

328 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

and  then  sought  for  a  comfortable  place  to  sleep. 
Evidently  our  odour  was  not  to  their  liking,  for  they 
ignored  our  presence  until  we  attacked  them  a  half 
hour  later.  We  killed  three,  and  surrounded  two 
with  the  intention  of  driving  them  to  the  Belgica, 
After  a  long  chase  over  a  tortuous  path  we  brought 
the  animals  to  the  side  of  the  bark,  and  there  ex- 
amined them  scientifically  and  gastronomically  at 
our  leisure. 

June  lo. — It  is  a  bright,  calm  day,  with  a  gentle 
air  from  the  south  and  a  temperature  of  —30°  C. 
The  men  are  scattered  over  the  pack  in  little  clicks. 
The  Norwegians  are  quite  separated  from  the  Bel- 
gians, and  all  are  on  ski.  Some  are  aiming  for  a 
favourite  nook  where  there  is  a  prospect  of  finding 
seals  or  penguins ;  others  are  striking  out  for  a 
huminock  eastward,  which  offers  a  splendid  slope 
for  ski  exercises.  We  of  the  cabin  have  formed  a 
small  party  to  make  the  first  long  journey.  There 
is  an  iceberg  about  two  miles  westward  which  had 
been  the  favourite  spot  for  ski  sport  in  the  early 
winter,  and  we  are  anxious  to  see  what  effect  the 
winter  has  wrought  upon  this  berg. 

We  had  no  serious  difficulty  in  reaching  the  berg; 
the  ice  was  much  crevassed,  and  about  the  leads 
were  great  lines  of  hummocks  which  made  ski 
travelling  a  task ;  but  we  were  unencumbered  and 
had  become  somewhat  accustomed  to  rough  roads. 
We  started  shortly  after  one  o'clock.  It  took  us  an 
hour  to  reach  our  destination,  and  we  spent  about 
forty  minutes  on  the  berg  and  about  it,  but  then, 
noticing  that  the  light  was  quickly  departing,  we 

329 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

hurried  home.  The  winter  effect  upon  the  berg  had 
been  considerable.  The  pack-ice  about  it  had  been 
much  broken  and  raised  in  numerous  hummocks  by 
pressure.  To  the  westward  side  a  great  quantity  of 
ice  had  been  forced  upon  the  berg  to  a  height  of 
twenty  feet,  indicating  what  we  had  expected,  that 
the  prevaiHng  pressure  during  the  night  had  been 
from  the  west.  The  old  crevasses  were  mostly 
closed,  and  the  sharp,  projecting  spires  were  coated 
with  great  quantities  of  coarse  hoar-frost.  There 
was  no  evidence  about  the  berg  to  warrant  a  belief 
in  an  upbuilding  of  bergs  during  the  winter.  On 
the  contrary  the  signs  were  indicative  of  their 
having  been  considerably  reduced  in  bulk.  On  our 
way  back  we  secured  one  king  penguin,  the  first 
during  the  night,  and  it  will  be  a  pleasant  addition 
to  our  larder. 

July  12. — The  light  is  daily  increasing  at  midday, 
which  should  be  a  potent  encouragement,  but  we  are 
failing  in  fortitude  and  in  physical  force.  From  day 
to  day  we  all  complain  of  a  general  enfeeblement  of 
strength,  of  insufficient  heart  action,  of  a  mental 
lethargy,  and  of  a  universal  feeling  of  discomfort. 
There  has,  however,  been  one  exception;  one 
among  us  who  has  not  fallen  into  the  habit  of  being 
a  chronic  complainer.  This  is  Captain  Lecointe. 
The  captain  has  had  to  do  the  most  trying  work, 
that  of  making  the  nautical  observations,  which  often 
keeps  him  handling  delicate  instruments  outside, 
and  in  trying  positions  in  the  open  blast  for  an 
hour  at  a  time.  He  has  come  in  with  frosted  fin- 
gers, frozen  ears,  and  stiffened  feet,  but  with  char- 

330 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

acteristic  good  humour  he  has  passed  these  discom- 
forts off.  His  heart  action  has  steadily  remained  full 
and  regular.  The  only  other  man  in  the  party  of 
equal  strength  is  the  cook,  Michotte.  But  to-day 
I  have  to  record  the  saddening  news  that  Lecointe 
is  suddenly  failing.  Not  that  he  has  complained  of 
any  ill-feeling,  for  he  still  maintains  that  he  feels 
well ;  but  in  the  usual  daily  examination,  I  notice, 
that  his  pulse  is  intermitting,  the  first  sign  of  coming 
debility.  He  is  assuming  a  deathly  pallor,  does  not 
eat,  and  finds  it  difficult  to  either  sleep  or  breathe. 
There  is  a  puffiness  under  the  eyes,  his  ankles  are 
swollen,  and  the  entire  skin  has  a  dry,  glossy  appear- 
ance. The  symptoms  are  all  similar  to  those  of 
Danco  in  his  last  stages ;  but  Lecointe  has  a  steady 
heart  and  sound  organs,  which  augur  in  his  favour. 

July  14. —  Lecointe  has  given  up  all  hope  of  ever 
recovering,  and  has  made  out  his  last  instructions. 
His  case  seems  almost  hopeless  to  me.  The  unfa- 
vourable prognosis  has  sent  another  wave  of  despair 
over  the  entire  party.  Almost  everybody  is  alarmed 
and  coming  to  me  for  medical  treatment,  for  real  or 
imaginary  troubles.  The  complaints  differ  consider- 
ably, but  the  underlying  cause  is  the  same  in  all. 
We  are  developing  a  form  of  anaemia  peculiar  to  the 
polar  regions.  An  anaemia  which  I  had  noticed 
before  among  the  members  of  the  first  Peary  Arctic 
Expedition,  but  our  conditions  are  much  more  seri- 
ous. To  overcome  this  trouble  I  have  devised  a 
plan  of  action,  which  the  sailors  call  the  "baking 
treatment." 

Medicament,  I  find,  is  of  little  service.    A  tempo- 

33^ 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

rary  relief  is  sometimes  effected  by  well-directed 
drugs,  but  the  lasting  effects  are  disappointing.  Iron 
and  arsenic,  and  many  of  the  ordinary  tonics  effective 
in  home  anaemias,  are  entirely  inert.  After  consid- 
erable experiment,  I  have  abandoned  drugs  as  an 
important  aid.  Fresh  food,  artificial  heat,  a  buoyant 
humour,  judicious  clothing,  and  the  least  possible 
humidity  are  the  conditions  which  suggest  a  rational 
treatment.  I  should  like  to  take  up  this  subject  in 
detail  and  give  my  reasons  for  this  plan  of  treatment, 
but  the  discussions  would  take  us  into  a  long  and 
technical  consideration,  which  I  fear  would  be  of 
interest  only  to  medical  men.  The  plan  of  treatment 
in  brief  is  as  follows :  As  soon  as  the  pulse  becomes 
irregular  and  rises  to  one  hundred  beats  per  minute, 
with  a  puffiness  of  the  eyes  and  swollen  ankles,  the 
man  is  stripped  and  placed  close  to  a  fire  for  one 
hour  each  day.  I  prohibit  all  food  except  milk, 
cranberry  sauce,  and  fresh  meat,  either  penguin  or 
seal  steaks  fried  in  oleomargarine.  The  patient  is 
not  allowed  to  do  anything  which  will  seriously  tax 
the  heart.  His  bedding  is  dried  daily,  and  his  cloth- 
ing is  carefully  adjusted  to  the  needs  of  his  occupa- 
tion. Laxatives  are  generally  necessary,  and  vege- 
table bitters,  with  mineral  acids,  are  a  decided  help. 
Strychnine  is  the  only  remedy  which  has  given  me 
any  service  in  regulating  the  heart,  and  this  I  have 
used  as  a  routine.  But  surely  one  of  the  most  im- 
portant things  was  to  raise  the  patient's  hopes  and 
instil  a  spirit  of  good  humour.  When  at  all  seriously 
afflicted,  the  men  felt  that  they  would  surely  die,  and 
to  combat  this  spirit  of  abject  hopelessness  was  my 

332 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

most  difficult  task.  My  comrades,  however,  were 
excellent  aids,  for  as  soon  as  one  of  our  number  was 
down,  everybody  made  it  his  business  to  create  an 
air  of  good  cheer  about  him. 

The  first  upon  whom  I  tried  this  system  of  treat- 
ment systematically  was  Lecointe.  I  had  urged 
part  of  it  upon  Danco,  but  he  could  not  eat  the 
penguin,  and  when  I  told  him  he  must,  he  said 
he  would  rather  die.  When  Lecointe  came  under 
treatment  I  told  him  that  if  he  would  follow  the 
treatment  carefully  I  thought  he  would  be  out  of  bed 
in  a  week.  I  did  not  have  this  faith  in  the  treat- 
ment at  that  time,  but  I  had  confidence  in  the  sound- 
ness of  Lecointe's  organs  and  I  wished  to  boom  up 
the  man.  Lecointe  replied  by  saying,  "  I  will  sit 
on  the  stove  for  a  month  and  eat  penguins  for  the 
rest  of  my  polar  life  if  that  will  do  me  good."  (He  did 
sit  beside  the  stove  two  hours  daily  for  a  month,  and 
he  ate,  by  his  own  choosing,  penguin  steaks  for  the 
balance  of  his  stay  in  the  polar  circle.  In  a  week 
he  was  about,  and  in  a  fortnight  he  again  made  his 
observations,  and  for  the  rest  of  his  polar  existence 
he  was  again  one  of  the  strongest  men  on  the 
Belgicd). 

For  a  number  of  days  the  temperature  has  re- 
mained below  —  30°  C.  Yesterday  and  to-day  it  has 
ranged  from  —  34°  to  -  Zl^  C'  with  a  strong  south- 
erly and  westerly  wind.  With  such  temperatures 
and  a  strong  wind  it  is  impossible  to  exist  outside. 
One  freezes  the  extremities  so  quickly  that  it  is  posi- 
tively dangerous  to  be  out ;  but  in  still  weather  there 
is  no  temperature  too  low  to  prevent  outdoor  work. 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

To-day  the  ice  Is  separating,  leaving  leads  running 
eastward  and  westward,  but  for  a  week  past  the  en- 
tire horizon  has  been  one  solid,  unbroken  mass. 
There  is  no  life  visible,  but  we  have  seen  tracks  of 
both  the  royal  and  the  small  penguins. 

July  15. — The  weather  continues  cold,  but  clear 
and  calm,  the  only  three  qualities  which  make  the 
antarctic  climate  endurable  during  the  night.  There 
is  now  much  light.  One  can  read  ordinary  print  at 
9  A.M.,  and  at  noon  the  north  is  flushed  with  a  glory 
of  green  and  orange  and  yellow.  We  are  still  very 
feeble.  An  exercise  of  one  hour  sends  the  pulse  up 
to  130,  but  we  have  all  learned  to  like  and  crave 
penguin  meat.  To  sleep  is  our  most  difficult  task, 
and  to  avoid  work  is  the  mission  of  everybody.  Arc- 
towski  says,  *'We  are  in  a  mad-house,"  and  our 
humour  points  that  way. 

July  1 7. — If  we  had  not  fresh  meat  to  eat  and  an 
abundance  of  fuel  to  give  heat,  I  am  sure  we  would 
have  an  alarming  mortality  in  less  than  a  month. 
Several  lives  have  certainly  been  saved  by  eating 
penguins,  and  we  shall  always  owe  them  a  debt  of 
gratitude.  And  now  the  sun  though  invisible  is 
rising  higher  and  higher  under  the  horizon,  giving  us 
a  long  dawn  from  nine  until  three  o'clock.  Every- 
body is  advancing  in  cheerfulness  with  the  rising  sun, 
but  physically  we  are  in  a  deplorable  condition. 
Alcohol,  even  in  small  quantities,  has  now  a  delete- 
rious effect  upon  us.  We  have  been  accustomed  to 
take  light  wines  at  meals,  but  the  wine  has  a  bad 
effect  upon  the  heart  and  kidney  functions,  so  much 
so  that  we  have  stopped  its  use  altogether. 

334 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

July  19. — The  health  of  the  sailors  is  at  its  mini- 
mum. All  are  anaemic,  but  their  general  appearance 
is  as  good  as  at  any  previous  time.  They  look  strong 
and  rugged,  and  have  not  lost  weight;  but  their 
complexion  is  somewhat  pale  and  yellowish.  When 
they  work  outside  for  an  hour  the  pulse  runs  up  to 
from  120  to  150.  In  the  cabin  we  are  improving, 
but  the  Commandant,  Arctowski,  and  Amundsen  are 
making  a  slow  recovery.  On  our  excursions  we 
now  see  many  seal  and  penguin  tracks,  and  the 
northern  sky  gives  every  promise  of  soon  sending 
forth  the  sun.  The  shades  of  dawn  are  first  green, 
then  orange-red,  followed  by  a  bright  yellow,  so 
bright  that  one  almost  imagines  a  sight  of  the 
upper  rim  of  the  sun.  The  ice  for  days  has  been  in- 
tensely purple.  We  have  had  a  few  feeble  auroras 
during  the  past  two  nights,  beginning  at  about 
three  o'clock  and  lasting  for  only  a  short  time.  The 
sky  is  losing  its  bright,  cheerful  and  restful  blue- 
ness,  which  it  has  exhibited  during  the  past  fort- 
night of  cold  and  comparative  calm.  A  thin  veil  of 
gray  is  gathering  over  us,  which  presages  another 
spell  of  warm,  stormy,  and  dirty  weather.  The 
barometer  is  very  high,  the  temperature  is  falling, 
and  to-night  there  is  a  wind  from  the  north.  All  of 
this,  as  usual,  is  an  introduction  to  a  wind  from  a 
warmer  and  more  humid  region, —  the  north  and 
west. 

July  21. — Yesterday  the  temperature  was  but  one 
degree  below  zero,  and  for  two  days  the  weather 
has  been  warm  and  stormy.  To-day  it  is  again 
—  24°  C.     A  beautiful,   clear  and  cloudless  day — 

335 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

with  a  cheerful  glow  of  reflected  splendour  radiating 
over  the  northern  horizon.  At  eight  o'clock  the  sky 
above  the  sun  was  a  joyous  golden ;  at  noon  it 
was  crimson.  We  have  not  had  an  observation  in 
twelve  days,  and  are  thus  unable  to  determine  our 
exact  position ;  hence  it  will  be  impossible  to  calcu- 
late with  precision  the  day  of  the  rising  of  the  sun, 
after  its  long  and  wandering  debauch.  We  saw  two 
white  petrels,  the  first  except  one  which  we  saw  two 
weeks  ago,  since  the  first  days  of  the  night.  There 
are  no  open  leads  or  bands  of  water-sky. 

Three  days  have  been  declared  as  official  holidays. 
It  is  the  time  for  the  Belgian  national  feasts,  and  we 
are  making,  during  this  period,  hard  efforts  to  boom 
up  the  failing  spirits  of  the  men.  Special  foods  have 
been  prepared  to  please  the  palates ;  wines  are 
sparingly  served  to  infuse  an  air  of  good  cheer,  and 
we  try  to  steer  the  topics  of  conversation  in  such  a 
manner  that  a  new  interest  may  be  created,  but  it 
seems  to  me  that  all  of  our  good  intentions  in  this 
direction  are  wasted.  Arctowski  and  Dobrowolski 
are  in  a  bad  way.  Knudsen,  Johansen  and  Melaerts 
are  in  the  baking  treatment,  and  altogether  we  are 
in  a  deplorable  condition.  If  it  now  became  neces- 
sary to  throw  suddenly  a  difficult  physical  task  upon 
the  men  there  would  be  few  able  to  endure  it.  If 
we  were  compelled  to  make  a  prolonged  march  over 
the  cheerless  pack  we  should  fail  miserably.  In  the 
cabin  we  know  this  helpless  condition  perfectly  well, 
but  we  try  to  push  it  to  the  background  and  talk  of 
the  usual  home  sentiments  of  the  feast,  the  coming 
sun,  and  the  brighter  prospects  of  a  coming  surn- 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

mer  campaign  of  exploration.  The  sailors,  always 
anxious  for  a  holiday,  though  their  work  is  never 
severe,  are  assembled  in  groups,  some  in  the  fore- 
castle playing  cards,  others  scattered  over  the  pack 
on  snowshoes  drinking  in  the  glory  of  the  coming 
day. 

The  night  is  clear  and  sharp,  with  a  brightness  in 
the  sky  and  a  blueness  on  the  ice  which  we  have  not 
seen  since  the  first  few  days  after  sunset.  An  aurora 
of  unusual  brightness  is  arched  across  the  southern 
sky.  The  transformation  in  its  figure  is  rapid,  and 
the  wavy  movement  is  strikingly  noticeable.  We 
are  all  out  looking  at  the  aurora,  some  by  way  of 
curiosity,  but  others  are  seriously  studying  the 
phenomenon.  Arctowski,  bundled  in  a  wealth  of 
Siberian  furs,  is  walking  up  and  down  the  deck, 
ascending  to  the  bridge  and  passing  in  and  out  of 
the  laboratory,  as  if  some  great  event  were  about  to 
transpire.  Racovitza,  with  a  pencil  in  his  bare  hand, 
in  torn  trousers,  and  without  a  coat  or  a  hat,  comes 
out  every  few  minutes  and,  with  a-  shiver,  returns  to 
make  serious  sketches  of  the  aurora  and  humorous 
drafts  of  the  unfortunate  workers  in  the  ''cold,  lady- 
less  south."  These  daily  touches  of  humour  by 
**Raco"  are  bitterly  sarcastic  but  extremely  amus- 
ing. Lecointe,  lost  in  a  Nansen  suit  of  furs,  has 
been  out  on  the  pack  in  his  observatory,  which  he 
calls  the  ''  Hotel,"  and  is  particularly  elated  be- 
cause he  has  succeeded  in  getting  an  observation. 
"Now,"  says  he,  "we  will  know  when  this  bloody 
sun  will  rise."  Our  position  is  latitude  70°  36' 
19'',  longitude  86°  34'  19''.     We  are  drifting  north- 

337 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

ward  and  eastward;  this  we  have  already  learned  by 
the  naturalist's  drag-nets,  but  it  is  comforting  to 
know  the  exact  rate  of  drift.  If  we  continue  to  drift 
northerly  a  little,  if  the  temperature  remains  low 
enough  to  give- a  great  refraction,  and  if  the  weather 
remains  clear,  the  captain  promises  us  a  peep  of  the 
sun  for  a  few  moments  to-morrow.  This  is  the  hap- 
piest bit  of  news  which  has  come  to  us,  and  it  sends 
a  thrill  of  joy  from  the  cabin  to  the  forecastle. 


338 


CHAPTER  XXV 

SPRING— SUNRISE— TWILIGHT   OF   DAWN 

July  22. — After  so  much  physical,  mental,  and 
tnoral  depression,  and  after  having  our  anticipations 
raised  to  a  fever  heat  by  the  tempting  increase  of 
dawn  at  noon,  it  is  needless  to  say  that  we  are  elated 
at  the  expectation  of  actual  daylight  once  more.  In 
these  dreadful  wastes  of  perennial  ice  and  snow,  man 
feels  the  force  of  the  superstitions  of  past  ages,  and 
becomes  willingly  a  worshipper  of  the  eternal  lumi- 
nary. I  am  certain  that  if  our  preparations  for  greet- 
ing the  returning  sun  were  seen  by  other  people, 
either  civilised  or  savage,  we  would  be  thought  dis- 
ciples of  heliolatry. 

Every  man  on  board  has  long  since  chosen  a 
favourite  elevation  from  which  to  watch  the  coming 
sight.  Some  are  in  the  crow's  nest,  others  on  the 
ropes  and  spars  of  the  rigging ;  but  these  are  the 
men  who  do  little  travelling.  The  adventurous  fel- 
lows are  scattered  over  the  pack  upon  icebergs  and 
high  hummocks.  These  positions  were  taken  at 
about  eleven  o'clock.  The  northern  sky  at  this  time 
was  nearly  clear  and  clothed  with  the  usual  haze. 
A  bright  lemon  glow  was  just  changing  into  an  even 

339 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 


glimmer  of  rose.  At  about 
half-past  eleven  a  few  stratus 
clouds  spread  over  the  rose, 
and  under  these  there  was  a 
play  in  colours,  too  complex 
for  my  powers  of  description. 
The  clouds  were  at  first  vio- 
let, but  they  quickly  caught 
the  train  of  colours  which 
was  spread  over  the  sky 
beyond.  There  were  spaces 
of  gold,  orange,  blue,  green, 
and  a  hundred  harmonious 
blends,  with  an  occasional 
strip  like  a  band  of  polished 
silver  to  set  the  colours  in 
bold  relief.  Precisely  at 
twelve  o'clock  a  fiery  cloud 
separated,  disclosing  a  bit  ol 
the  upper  rim  of  the  sun. 
.  All  this  time  I  had  been 
absorbed  by  the  pyrotech- 
nic-like display,  but  now  I 
turned  about  to  see  my  com- 
panions and  the  glory  of  the 
new  sea  of  ice,  under  the 
first  light  of  the  new  da\'. 
Looking  towards  the  sun  the 
fields  of  snow  had  a  velvety 
aspect  in  pink.  In  the  opposite  direction  the  pack  was 
noticeably  flushed  with  a  soft  lavender  light.  The 
whole  scene  changed  in  colour  with  every  direction 

340 


Distorted  Face  of  the 
Rising  Sun. 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 


taken  by  the  eye,  and  every- 
where the  ice  seemed  veiled 
by  a  gauzy  atmosphere  in 
which  the  colour  appeared 
to  rest.  For  several  min- 
utes my  companions  did  not 
speak.  Indeed,  we  could 
not  at  that  time  have  found 
words  with  which  to  ex- 
press the  buoyant  feeling  of 
relief,  and  the  emotion  of  the 
new  life  which  was  sent  cour- 
sing through  our  arteries  by 
the  hammer-like  beats  of  our 
enfeebled  hearts. 

Lecointe  and  Amundsen 
were  standing  on  an  iceberg 
close  to  me.  They  faced  the 
light,  and  watched  the  frag- 
ment of  the  sun  slide  under 
bergs,  over  hummocks,  and 
along  the  even  expanse  of  the 
frozen  sea,  with  a  worshipful 
air.  Their  eyes  beamed  with 
delight,  but  under  this  de- 
light there  was  noticeable 
the  accumulated  suffering 
of  seventy  dayless  nights. 
Their  faces  were  drawn  and 
thin,  though  the  weight  of  their  bodies  was  not  re- 
duced. The  skin  had  a  sickly,  jaundiced  colour,  green, 
and  yellow,  and  muddy.   Altogether,  we  accused  each 

341 


Distorted  Face  of  the 
Rising  Sun. 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

other  of  appearing  as  if  we  had  not  been  washed 
for  months.  The  uncertainty  of  our  exact  latitude 
made  it  impossible  to  estimate  just  how  much  of  the 
sun's  disk  would  be  visible.  Our  time,  too,  was 
uncertain,  for  our  pocket  timepieces  were  not  relia- 
ble, and  we  were  far  from  the  chronometers.  We 
watched  and  watched,  expecting  that  the  crest  of 
fire  would  rise  and  give  us  an  increased  glow  of 
light  and  some  heat,  but  it  only  slid  teasingly  on 
the  verge  of  the  sea.  It  seemed  as  though  our 
world  of  ice  was  not  yet  worthy  of  the  blessings  of 
the  "sun-god."  A  few  minutes  after  twelve  the 
light  was  extinguished,  a  smoky  veil  of  violet  was 
drawn  over  the  dim  outline  of  the  ice,  and  quickly 
the  stars  again  twinkled  in  the  gobelin-blue  of  the 
sky  as  they  had  done,  without  being  outshone,  for 
nearly  seventeen  hundred  hours. 

July  23. — We  have  just  finished  breakfast,  and  at 
8  A.M.  are  out  on  deck  to  welcome  the  promise  of 
the  coming  day.  It  is  long  since  we  have  taken 
such  interest  in  the  cold  outer  world,  but  we  are 
now  anxious  to  free  ourselves  from  the  darkness  of 
the  cabins,  and  the  tiresome  sameness  of  the  daily 
routine  of  life.  The  meteorologist  is  reading  the 
barometers  and  thermometers  and  recording  the  sky 
phenomena.  The  captain  has  just  finished  a  mag- 
netic observation.  The  crew  are  taking  their  usual 
hourly  exercise  by  a  brisk  walk  in  a  path  about  the 
bark.  The  officers  are  planning  the  day's  work  for 
the  men  to  perform  to-morrow.  The  scientific 
cranks  are  all  scattered  about  the  deck,  shivering 
and  noting  matters  of  special  interest  to  each.  I 
took  a  short  ski  run  out  over  the  hazy  purple  ice  to 

342 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

get  away  from  the  local  drift  of  thought^  and  then 
reclined  upon  a  hummock  to  study  the  scene.  The 
temperature  was  —  25°  C,  there  was  almost  no  air 
stirring,  and  aside  from  the  life  and  muffled  noise 
about  the  vessel,  a  death-like  silence  reigned  over 
the  entire  scene.  The  Belgica  was  distinctly  visible 
in  the  brightening  twilight;  her  body  was  buried 
under  the  heavy  weight  of  the  accumulated  winter 
snows,  but  the  masts  stood  out  in  bold  relief  against 
a  background  of  gold  on  the  eastern  sky.  The 
masts  and  ropes  and  spars  were  heavily  coated 
with  hoar-frost,  and  they  sparkled  in  the  reflected 
glimmer  of  the  dawn,  as  if  beset  by  millions  of 
diamonds. 

At  a  few  minutes  past  eleven  a  wave  of  light  spread 
over  the  vast  expanse  of  the  cold  heavens,  and  then 
a  gleam  of  fire  burst  through  a  large  purple  cloud 
on  the  horizon  northward.  The  lonely  spread  of 
lifeless  ice  assumed  a  face  of  rose,  and  soon  after, 
the  entire  northern  sky  was  streaked  with  warm 
bands  of  carmine,  but  the  sun  was  still  partly  under 
the  surface  snows  at  noon,  and  its  face  was  twisted 
and  distorted  in  such  a  manner  that  its  globular 
form  was  not  recognisable.  Later  in  the  afternoon 
we  secured  two  royal  penguins.  During  the  night 
we  saw  and  studied  an  aurora  of  the  usual  type. 
To-night  the  days  of  feasting  end,  and  the  freedom 
from  routine  work  for  the  men  ceases.  The  music- 
boxes  and  the  accordion  are  forced  to  grind  out 
music  until  late.  We  are  playing  cards  and  are  hav- 
ing a  joyous  time  generally  in  response  to  the  stim- 
ulation of  the  few  moments  of  noonday  splendour. 

July  24. — It  is  another  beautifully  clear  day  with 

343 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

a  temperature  of  —  34^  C.  What  a  blessing  it  is  to 
have  clear  air  and  a  clear  sky  during  these  important 
days  when  the  sun  is  edging  over  the  ice  beneath 
which  it  has  reposed  so  long.  There  is  a  bright 
blue  twilight  now  at  7  a.  m.,  and  three  hours  later 
the  light  of  dawn  which  shoots  over  the  horizon 
makes  the  scene  bright  and  day-like.  Perhaps  we 
shall  see  the  real  sun  without  refraction  to-day ;  but 
if  our  latitude  remains  about  the  same  as  the  last 
observation  indicates  we  shall  not  have  it  over  the 
horizon  until  to-morrow.  There  are  many  mirages 
on  the  horizon,  inverted  icebergs,  raised  ridges  of 
hummocks,  and  bits  of  pack-ice,  looking  like  moun- 
tains of  some  strange  land.  We  played  a  game  of 
whist  to-night  with  unusual  vigour.  We  have 
played  a  few  hours  each  evening  regularly,  for 
several  months,  but  up  to  the  present  we  have  all 
lost  and  won  with  about  an  equal  measure  of  success  ; 
in  the  last  few  days,  however,  the  luck  has  changed. 
Last  night  Raco  won  one  hundred  and  fifty  thou- 
sand dollars.  To-night  I  won  two  hundred  and 
fifty  thousand.  We  are  now  satisfied  with  our  suc- 
cess and  in  the  future  we  shall  decline  all  offers  at 
whist. 

July  25. — For  three  days  we  have  had  a  glimpse 
of  the  sun,  but  it  has  appeared  a  thing  of  unreality. 
To-day  we  have  seen  the  normal  face.  The  sun  at 
noon  sailed  along  the  northern  sky  above  the  hori- 
zon, a  distance  nearly  equal  to  its  own  diameter. 
We  thus  have  the  actual  sunrise,  since  heretofore 
we  have  only  been  able  to  see  it  when  aided  by  the 
high  polar  refraction  by  which  the  sun  is  apparently 

344 


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ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

lifted  above  its  actual  position,  a  distance  equal  to 
about  three  quarters  its  diameter.  What  a  peculiar 
effusion  of  sentiments  the  welcome  face  of  the  sun 
draws  from  our  frozen  fountains  of  life  !  How  that 
great  golden  ball  of  cold  fire  incites  the  spirit  to 
expressions  of  joy  and  gratitude  !  How  it  sets  the 
tongue  to  pleasurable  utterances,  and  the  vocal 
chords  to  music !  The  sun  is,  indeed,  the  father  of 
everything  terrestrial.  We  have  suddenly  found  a 
tonic  in  the  air,  an  inspiration  in  the  scenic  splen- 
dours of  the  sea  of  ice,  and  a  cheerfulness  in  each 
other's  companionship  which  make  the  death-dealing 
depression  of  the  night  a  thing  of  the  past. 

July  28. — An  officer  came  in  to-day,  smiling  and 
as  happy  as  a  child  with  a  new  toy,  saying,  *'  I  can 
feel  the  heat  of  the  sun,"  and  at  once  everybody 
looked  up  as  if  doubting  his  word.  We  went  out, 
and  we  stood  in  awe  and  amazement  to  drink  in  the 
first  sensible  sunbeams  in  nearly  three  months.  To 
feel  the  gentle  heat  and  to  see  the  hopeful  source 
which  promised  more,  was  a  long  wished-for  pleas- 
ure and  one  whose  intoxicating  influence  cannot  be 
described.  The  men  are  journeying  in  pairs  over 
winding  paths  on  the  pack ;  some  drop  here  and 
there  upon  a  convenient  slope  to  sun  themselves  like 
snakes  in  spring ;  others  sniff  the  air  and  run  from 
place  to  place  like  bears. 

July  31. — We  have  now  so  far  improved  in  gen- 
eral health  as  to  long  for  an  extended  outing, — a 
journey  of  several  days'  duration.  This  desire  orig- 
inates from  an  infusion  of  new  life  which  revives  our 
thoughts  in   response  to  the  returning  sun.      The 

345 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

point  selected  for  our  first  expedition  is  the  great 
tabular  iceberg  in  the  east-northeast.  All  is  hustle 
and  bustle  to  prepare  for  this  expedition. 

During  the  last  days  of  July  the  sky  and  the  snow 
were  flooded  by  a  rich  carmine  light,  which  imparted 
a  delightful  warmth  and  charm  to  the  cold  blues  of 
the  pack.  Soon  after  sunrise,  however,  a  smoky 
mist  of  frost  gathered  over  the  icefields  and  smoth- 
ered the  new  glory  of  the  sun,  absorbing  most  of  the 
colour,  all  of  the  heat,  and  leaving  only  a  dull  cop- 
pery-red misshapen  ball.  Many  of  us  were  now 
anxious  to  get  away  from  the  monotone  about  the 
ship  as  quickly  as  the  weather  would  permit.  We 
were  tired  of  the  *' mad-house  "  promenade  about  the 
bark.  The  little  mountains  of  tin  cans,  ashes,  and 
other  debris,  which  decorated  our  immediate  sur- 
roundings, were  wearisome.  The  great  drifts  of 
snow,  over  which  we  now  marched  from  the  deck, 
though  picturesque,  were  painful  to  the  eye  because 
for  many  long  weeks  we  had  dug  paths  through,  and 
tunnels  under,  the  same  snow.  We  felt  that  if  we 
could  get  away  for  a  few  days  and  pitch  our  camp 
upon  the  bare  bosom  of  the  sea  of  ice  near  some  ice- 
berg, we  might  make  some  studies  worthy  of  record, 
and  we  would  certainly  come  back  loving  the  Belgica 
and  our  companions  better. 

To  this  end  we  have  devoted  much  of  our  time 
during  the  stormy  days.  It  is  found  that  for  serious 
travelling  over  the  pack  almost  all  of  our  equipment 
needs  re-modelling.  I  have  begun  with  the  clothing. 
In  addition  to  my  furs  there  are  but  four  skin  suits 
on  the  Belgica,     Sufficient  experimental  work  has 

346 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

been  done  to  prove  that  in  the  cutting  winds,  and 
freezing  temperatures  of  the  coming  months  it  will 
not  be  safe  to  venture  far  without  furs.  Woolens 
sufficiently  heavy  to  be  comfortable  are  too  cum- 
bersome. Three  of  the  suits  are  made  of  Siberian 
wolf  skins,  after  a  pattern  suggested  by  Nansen,  but 
the  hiodel  is  such  that  we  find  them  worthless,  ex- 
cept for  work  in  the  observatories.  Nansen  has  im- 
proved the  Eskimo  pattern  in  a  manner  which  makes 
the  suit  much  warmer,  but  having  omitted  the  vital 
point  in  the  construction  of  polar  garments,  that  of 
ventilation,  the  costume  becomes  useless  for  active 
work.  We  have  worn  it  in  short  ski  runs  of  thirty 
minutes,  in  temperatures  of—  20°  C.  (—4.0°  F.)  and 
each  time  we  have  come  back  wet  with  perspiration. 
Finding  Nansen's  improvement  a  failure,  we  have 
reduced  the  suits  as  nearly  as  possible  to  the  aborig- 
inal style.  Arctowski  has  a  Yakouts  suit  from  Si- 
beria, which  has  undergone  a  similar  transformation. 
Both  the  Nansen  and  the  Siberian  outfits  are  excel- 
lent for  riding  or  work  which  requires  little  exercise, 
but  for  travelling  over  the  pack  the  furs  must  be  less 
cumbersome  and  there  must  be  a  freer  ventilation. 
The  sailors  have  been  provided  with  canvas  cover 
garments  cut  similar  to  the  Eskimo  fur  suits.  These 
are  excellent  wind  guards,  but  are  of  little  service  in 
confining  the  bodily  heat.  We  have  devised  a  similar 
covering  made  of  blankets  which  is  worn  under  the 
canvas,  and  this  seems  to  keep  the  men  comfortable 
for  their  ordinary  outside  work.  But  the  combina- 
tion is  much  more  troublesome  than  an  Eskimo  fur 
suit  and  decidedly  inferior  for  active  work. 

347 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

In  view  of  our  prospective  work  of  endeavouring 
to  explore  the  pack,  and  any  new  land  to  which  the 
drift  might  bring  us,  we  deemed  it  necessary  to  de- 
vise some  kind  of  tent  for  shelter.  We  had  but 
one  tent,  and,  like  many  other  things  intended  for 
polar  work,  this  had  been  so  improved  that  it  was 
useless.  This  was  also  modelled  on  Nansen's  plans, 
but  its  improvement  consisted  of  a  coating  of  water- 
proof material  suggested  by  a  friend  not  familiar 
with  polar  work.  This  water-proofing  so  hardened 
in  the  cold  that  the  cloth  cracked,  and  was  torn 
with  the  first  storm  of  summer.  The  dif^culties 
with  all  ordinary  forms  of  tents  are  that  they  are 
too  heavy,  too  complicated,  and  will  not  stand  the 
strain  of  polar  storms.  We  have  tried  to  build  one 
which  would  overcome  as  much  as  possible  the 
faults  of  others,  and  our  result  has  been  gratifying. 
For  several  weeks  we  all  studied  the  subject,  and  I 
dare  say  that  we  have  among  us  more  ideas  bearing 
upon  the  construction  of  tents  than  ever  before  ex- 
isted among  a  bunch  of  men.  It  is  unfortunate  that 
we  have  not  the  time  to  put  all  the  plans  into  exe- 
cution. The  doctor's  tent  design  was  accepted  by 
Amundsen  and  at  once  the  cloth  was  cut  for  its 
construction.  We  worked  upon  this  for  about  two 
weeks,  and  then,  proud  of  the  result  of  our  own 
skill,  we  placed  it  for  exhibition  and  criticism  on 
the  pack.  The  tent  was  made  large  enough  for 
three  occupants.  The  main  points  kept  in  mind  in 
devising  the  plans  were  lightness,  durability,  stabil- 
ity, and  ease  of  erection.  I  will  not  here  describe 
the  faults  of  other  tents  nor  the  excellence  of  our 

348 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

own  Invention.  The  accompanying  photographs  il- 
lustrate our  model.  Suffice  it  to  say,  that  this  which 
we  have  styled  the  ''Antarctic  tent"  weighs  but 
twelve  pounds,  will  withstand  the  worst  storms,  and 
can  be  set  up  in  a  strong  wind  by  one  man  in  five 
minutes. 

No  extensive  sledge  journeys  had  previously  been 
made  over  the  pack  by  us,  nor,  indeed,  by  any  one 
else  so  far  as  history  knows.  Hence,  everything 
about  this  prospective  jaunt  was  experimental.  Our 
specific  destination  was  to  visit  a  great  tabular  berg, 
which  we  estimated  was  about  sixteen  miles  away. 
The  project  took  its  origin  from  various  discussions 
as  to  the  possibility  of  making  long  journeys  over 
the  pack.  Commandant  de  Gerlache  held  that  it 
was  possible  to  travel  safely  over  the  pack  two  or 
three  degrees  southward,  but  nearly  everybody  else 
opposed  this  view,  because  of  the  absence  of  any 
station  or  land  to  which  one  might  retreat  in  case 
the  vessel  was  lost  which,  with  the  local  movement 
in  the  pack,  might  easily  happen.  There  were  many 
volunteers  for  this  venture,  but  there  was  room  for 
only  three  in  the  tent,  and  altogether  this  is  the 
most  appropriate  number  for  such  a  trip.  The  party 
was  limited  to  Lecointe,  Amundsen,  and  the  writer. 
We  arranged  a  sail  for  one  of  the  American  sledges, 
and  loaded  it  down  with  fuel  and  provisions  for  ten 
days.  The  selection  of  the  food  stuffs  had  been  left 
to  our  own  judgment,  and  we  were  ungenerous  and 
selfish  enough  to  select  only  favourite  relishes. 


349 


CHAPTER   XXVI 

THE  SPRING  (CONTINUED)— -RETURN  OF  LIGHT— 
A  SLEDGE  JOURNEY 

The  morning  of  July  thirty-first  opened  with  a 
golden  glow  northward,  and  a  fair  but  cold  wind, 
driving  the  hard  crystals  of  snow  over  the  crust 
with  a  metallic  ring.  The  weather  for  several  days 
had  not  been  promising,  but  on  this  morning  the 
barometer  was  steady,  the  temperature  -  34°  with 
a  fresh  breeze  from  the  south.  The  meteorologist 
assured  us  that  the  signs  promised  excellent  weather. 
We  have  learned  to  take  the  official  weather  fore- 
casts with  an  air  of  disbelief  Still  we  started ;  the 
sledge  was  put  on  the  ice,  the  bundles  of  food,  fuel, 
furs,  tent,  etc.,  were  tossed  on  the  snow,  and  quickly 
our  sledge  was  snugly  loaded,  and  a  sail  set  to  a 
fair  wind.  The  sail  helped  us  much ;  its  force  was 
equal  to  that  of  one  man.  The  surface  of  the  ice 
was  fairly  good  for  sledge  travelling,  a  thin  crust  on 
the  top  offering  little  friction  to  the  sledge,  and  gen- 
erally the  runners  did  not  break  through.  Such 
a  condition  was  found  on  the  larger  pans  upon  which 
there  were  small  snow-covered  hummocks,  from  one 

350 


ANTARCTIC   NIGHT 

to  three  metres  high  here  and  there,   but  around 
these  we  could  always  find  a  passage. 

Physically  we  believed  ourselves  in  fine  trim. 
Every  moment  of  sunlight  had  been  used  by  us  for 
exercise.  We  had  been  on  a  forced  diet  of  penguin 
meat,  and  had  undergone  the  baking  treatment  to 
bring  our  strength  to  the  maximum.  We  were, 
however,  far  from  normal,  though  our  ambitions,  like 
the  spring  flow  of  rivers,  were  no  longer  to  be  con- 
fined to  ordinary  bounds.  Our  real  difficulty  began 
when  we  left  the  large  old  fields  to  cross  the  young 
ice  of  leads.  Here  were  huge  ridges  of  pressure-lines 
all  nearly  impassable,  and  the  little  valley-like  spaces 
between  were  covered  by  beds  of  dry  snow  in  very 
small  grystals,  over  which  a  sledge  runs  about  as 
easily  as  over  sand.  Another  disheartening  series  of 
regions,  were  the  sites  of  recent  leads  and  lakes  over 
which  it  was  necessary  to  pass.  These  were  sheets  of 
water  thinly  covered  with  ice  from  three  to  six  inches 
in  thickness,  and  coated  by  a  most  beautiful  fur  of 
hoar-frost.  The  nearness  of  this  to  the  level  of  the 
water,  and  the  great  difference  between  the  temper- 
ature of  the  water  and  that  of  the  air  kept  it  con- 
stantly humid.  An  evaporation  rose  from  this  new 
ice  as  if  water  were  boiling  under  a  screen.  The 
mixture  of  water  with  cold  snow  offers  a  surface  over 
which  a  sledge  slides  with  the  greatest  difficulty. 
There  are  several  methods  of  overcoming  this  resist- 
ance. One  method  is  to  shoe  the  sledge  with  ivory 
or  whalebone,  or  what  I  like  fully  as  well,  penguin 
skin,  but  for  this  we  were  not  prepared  at  the  time. 

At  a  distance  of  about  a  mile  from  the  ship  we 

351 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

stopped  to  take  compass  bearings  of  her  and  the 
surrounding  icebergs  or  landmarks.  The  scene 
here  was  a  picture  for  the  gods.  In  the  north 
the  sun,  a  great  yellow  ball  of  fire,  was  gliding 
westward  along  the  horizon,  laying  beams  of  gold 
on  the  endless  sheets  of  white  of  the  pack.  The 
moon,  nearly  full,  a  bright  globe  of  frosted  silver, 
floated  high  in  the  eastern  heavens.  The  sky  was, 
here  and  there,  thinly  veiled  by  stratus  clouds 
formed  by  the  ever-present  microscopic  specks  of 
snow  which  float  about  in  the  antarctic  atmosphere. 
The  colours  above  were  iiot  rich  but  restful,  and  on 
the  frozen  bosom  of  the  sea  there  was  a  charm  which 
cannot  be  made  to  flow  under  my  pen.  The  surface 
was  everywhere  rough  and  ragged,  the  line  of  horizon 
in  some  places  looking  not  unlike  a  profile  of  ruined, 
marble  buildings.  The  many,  rough  edges  of 
blue  hummocks,  the  thin  plains  of  green  and  yellow, 
young  ice,  the  clear-cut  edges  of  icebergs,  with  walls 
assuming  various  colours,  according  to  the  amount 
and  kind  of  light  absorbed,  made  a  dreamy,  fairy-like 
scene. 

Before  us,  apparently  within  gunshot,  was  our  des- 
tination, the  great  tabular  iceberg,  its  deceptive 
nearness  urging  us  on  to  action,  and  offering  us  the 
hope  to  be  able  to  camp  in  the  lee  of  it  before  night. 
But  in  reality  it  was  not  less  than  sixteen  miles  away. 
Behind  us  was  the  little  Belgica,  the  only  speck  of 
human  life  in  this  rolling  sweep  of  the  great  south 
frigid  zone.  How  little  and  insignificant  she  seems 
amid  these  huge  sheets  and  mountains  of  ice!  Yet 
upon  her  stability,  upon  her  power  to  fight  and  resist 

352 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

the  awful  attacks  of  the  storming  rams  of  ice,  depends 
not  only  our  comfort  and  success,  but  our  lives.  We 
travelled  in  perfect  comfort  and  with  much  ease,  two 
on  skiy  and  one  on  disc  snowshoes  to  push  and  guide 
the  sledge.  The  sun  sank  under  the  horizon  at 
about  two  o'clock,  the  moon  which  had  been  visible 
all  day  now  assumed  a  more  hopeful  face,  and 
little  by  little  the  dark-blue  twilight  circle  rose 
on  the  southern  sky.  In  the  twilight  it  was  diffi- 
cult to  see  the  hummocks,  the  crevasses,  and  the 
weak  sheets  of  ice.  When  we  began  to  think  of 
a  site  for  a  camp  we  were,  apparently,  no  nearer  our 
destination  after  the  day's  march  of  seven  miles  than 
when  we  started.  At  this  time  we  saw  a  small 
smoky  discoloration  on  the  sky  ahead  of  us,  from 
which  we  concluded  that  water  was  not  far  off.  A 
little  later,  we  came  to  a  lead  covered  with  new  ice 
over  which  we  crossed  to  a  very  rough  peninsular 
of  old  ice.  From  here  we  saw  first  a  line  of  greenish 
yellow  ice,  which  we  have  learned,  by  experience,  is 
usually  not  strong  enough  to  bear  the  weight  of  a 
a  man;  then  we  saw  a  black  line  of  open  water 
beyond.  After  a  little  careful  observation  we  were 
able  to  distinguish  many  whales  and  seals  in  this 
lead. 

Our  course  being  directly  across  this  break  in  the 
ice,  we  decided  to  pitch  the  tent  on  the  nearest  floe 
which  offered  a  solid  bed.  This  lead  had  a  general 
direction  from  east  to  west;  it  was  about  one  mile 
wide  at  its  narrowest  points,  but  in  other  places  there 
were  expansions  of  from  two  to  four  miles.  A  good 
floe  was  found  to  be  south  of  this,  and  our  site  for 

353 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

camping  resembled  in  many  ways  the  margin  of  a 
large  river.  The  old  ice  with  the  ridges  of  hummocks 
offered  an  elevated  bank.  In  the  centre  were  frag- 
ments of  ice,  floating  about  like  the  winter  ice  of  a 
stream.  It  was  a  real  joy  to  pitch  the  new  tent,  after 
our  experience  with  the  ill-adapted  old  ones.  In 
less  than  three  minutes  it  was  set,  and  a  fire  was  in 
progress  for  a  needed  meal.  The  temperature  was 
-  20^  C,  and  a  strong  breeze  came  from  the 
south,  but  even  with  these  atmospheric  conditions 
we  were  comfortable  in  our  shelter. 

It  took  us  a  long  time  to  prepare  our  food  — 
about  six  hours ;  —  everything  which  contained 
water  was  frozen  to  the  consistency  of  stone,  and  to 
heat  this,  or  indeed  any  kind  of  food,  the  Jackson 
apparatus,  which  was  the  only  stove  we  had  taken 
from  the  ship,  was  inefficient,  while  its  consump- 
tion of  alcohol  was,  in  our  experience,  so  wasteful 
that  its  use  as  an  item  of  polar  equipment  is  injudi- 
cious. It  took  us  about  two  hours  to  thaw  out  some 
penguin  steak,  and  two  more  to  make  a  soup  which 
has  the  enchanting  name  of  *'  bonne  femmeT  In  this 
we  managed  to  mix  a  liberal  supply  of  reindeer  hair, 
penguin  grease,  and  other  flavouring  material.  The 
soup  was  a  failure, — but  not  quite  so  much  so  as  the 
chocolate  prepared  shortly  after.  This  was  made  in 
a  can  in  which  the  penguin  steak  had  been  warmed. 
It  contained,  besides  chocolate,  milk  and  sugar,  much 
butter,  penguin  oil,  blood,  and  pieces  of  fishy  meat, 
some  ^^ bonne femme'  soup,  and  reindeer  fur.  Le- 
cointe,  who  had  the  honour  of  having  the  first  cup, 
received,  besides  the  major  quantity  of  oil,  the  lighter 

354 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

floating  material.  He  pronounced  it  "scandalous!" 
But  the  other  victims  who  tried  it  praised  its  nutri- 
tious qualities  very  highly.  After  our  feed  we 
stowed  ourselves  away  in  our  bags,  falling  on  each 
Others  stomachs,  as  our  efforts  to  reach  the  bot- 
tom failed.  Finally  we  went  to  sleep  while  the 
wind  roared  and  the  snow  dropped  on  our  tent, 
making  a  sound  like  bits  of  metal ;  a  music  which, 
when  comfortably  stowed  in  our  bags,  proved  restful 
and  conducive  to  sleep. 

We  arose  the  next  morning  complaining  some- 
what of  the  cold,  but  this  is  the  grievance  of  every 
first  encampment.  After  three  hours  of  cooking, 
chocolate  was  prepared,  and  with  it  we  ate  alpine 
biscuits.  This  was  quite  sufficient  for  our  morn- 
ing meal.  Then  we  crawled  out  of  our  bags,  took 
our  furs  from  the  snow  under  the  bags,  shook  the 
snow  out  of  them,  and  quickly  dressed.  Once  in 
our  travelling  garments,  though  frozen  and  filled 
with  fine  dust-like  snow,  we  soon  felt  comfortable 
and  dry.  Emerging  from  the  camp  we  saw  the  sun 
about  fifteen  degrees  east  of  north  and  close  to  the 
horizon,  from  which  we  concluded  it  was  eleven 
o'clock.  Our  watches  had  refused  to  tell  the  time  in 
the  cold.  The  day  was  not  promising,  the  sun  was 
screened  by  an  increasing  mist  and  the  horizon  was 
everywhere  indistinct.  The  pack  was  gray,  and  the 
leads  black  with  many  smoky  zones  on  the  sky,  indi- 
cating a  disruption  of  the  ice  and  much  pack  move- 
ment. We  were  permitted  a  look  at  our  projected 
journey's  end,  the  tabular  iceberg,  and  from  our  posi- 
tion the  way  to  it  seemed  simple  enough.   Its  distance 

355 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

from  us  was  about  nine  miles ;  it  was  2,000  feet  long 
and  from  250  to  300  feet  high,  with  a  smooth  upper 
surface  and  vertical  cliffs;  along  the  base,  on  the  two 
sides  visible  to  us,  was  a  huge  ice  fort  about  50  feet 
high  and  100  feet  wide.  On  this  were  fragments  of 
ice  mostly  covered  with  snow,  giving  it  an  appearance 
of  a  smooth  terrace.  Here  and  there  were  huge  fis- 
sures visible  only  at  the  top,  and  widening  into  a 
valley  towards  the  base.  These  valleys  were  strewn 
with  ponderous  boulders  of  ice.  There  was  no  evi- 
dence of  fresh  fissures,  no  blue  lines  or  stratas;  every- 
thing wore  a  homogeneous  mantle  of  unblemished 
purity. 

The  lead  before  us  proved,  on  further  examination, 
an  impassable  barrier  for  the  time.  It  extended  as 
far  as  the  eye  could  penetrate  to  the  east  and  to  the 
west,  a  great  polar  river  in  a  mid-polar  sea  of  ice. 
In  it  were  hundreds  of  whales,  finbacks  and  bottle- 
noses,  and  countless  seals,  Weddell  sea-leopards,  and 
crab-eaters,  but  strangely  enough  no  penguins.  The 
new  ice  forming  was  not  of  sufficient  strength  to 
bear  our  weights,  hence  we  returned  to  the  tent  to 
prepare  our  dinner,  the  last  meal  of  the  day.  When 
it  takes  six  hours  to  prepare  one  meal,  one  does  not 
provide  more  than  two,  and  in  actual  practice  that  is 
found  sufficient. 

Finding  that  to  cross  the  lead  was  quite  impossible 
for  a  day  or  two,  we  decided  to  build  a  snow-house 
which  is  always  preferable  to  a  tent  for  a  long 
stay.  This  was  the  second  snow-house  which  we 
built  in  the  antarctic,  and  the  first  in  which  men 
lived.      It  was  constructed  on  the   Eskimo  model, 

356 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

conical  In  shape,  like  a  bee-hive,  with  circular  lines 
of  blocks,  each  circle  decreasing  in  size  until  the  top, 
which  is  small  enough  to  cover  with  one  or  two 
pieces.  The  Eskimo  does  this  with  an  ordinary- 
knife  or  a  crescent-shaped  instrument,  made  from 
a  walrus  tooth;  but  this  requires  much  dexterity 
and  some  experience.  I  have  always  found  that  a 
small  saw  was  better  adapted  for  the  purpose. 
With  this,  one  can  improve  on  Eskimo  methods 
and  build  a  much  stronger  igloo. 

We  selected  a  bank  of  driven  snow  with  a  hard 
consistency.  To  get  a  working  edge  here  we  first 
made  a  straight  cut,  then  a  slanting  circular  incision, 
raising  the  crescent  out  in  pieces.  Then  we  sawed 
another  groove  parallel  to  the  first  and  cut  this  strip 
into  blocks  of  a  size  easy  to  handle.  Finally  we 
passed  the  saw  under  the  surface  at  the  desired 
thickness,  after  which  a  slight  touch  from  the  hand 
or  foot  separated  the  block.  There  is  no  rule  as  to 
the  size  of  the  blocks ;  they  must  be  cut  according 
to  the  strength  of  the  snow.  Usually  blocks  one  foot 
thick,  two  feet  long,  and  eighteen  inches  wide  are 
the  most  convenient.  These  can  be  transported  on 
a  sledge  to  any  desired  site  for  the  igloo.  Such  a 
place  is  never  far  off.  The  man  who  builds  the 
wall  must  be  careful  that  the  blocks  of  each  succeed- 
ing circle  will  centre  on  the  lines  of  meeting  of  the 
blocks  below,  a  law  well  known  in  masonry.  He 
must  endeavour  to  keep  the  surface  of  the  wall 
from  sloping  in  or  out,  and  every  piece  must  rest 
firmly  on  each  of  its  neighbours.  When  the  igloo  is 
finished  there  will  be  found  many  holes  between  tht 

357 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

blocks,  but  these  are  easily  filled  from  the  outside. 
The  door  should  be  cut  after  the  structure  is  erected. 
If  the  igloo  is  intended  for  a  continued  residence, 
a  low  arched  entrance  is  necessary  to  keep  out  the 
sand-like  blasts  of  fine  snow. 

Our  sojourn  in  this  particular  house  was  very 
agreeable.  It  was  an  experience  which  I  shall  long 
remember.  We  placed  the  sledge  sail  on  the  snowy 
floor,  and  on  it  our  sleeping  bags.  The  only  culinary 
articles  which  we  used  were  fixed  in  terraces  on  the 
wall,  or  simply  driven  in  the  blocks.  To  undress  and 
get  into  our  bags  in  this  house  was  an  easy  matter. 
Taking  off  everything  but  our  underwear,  we  placed 
the  travelling  suit,  including  our  boots,  under  the 
bags,  and  without  more  discomfort  than  a  little  snow 
down  our  backs  we  slid  into  the  zenith  of  polar  com- 
fort, the  sleeping-bag.  The  scene  outside  was  daz- 
zling beyond  description;  the  scene  inside  was  restful 
beyond  all  expectation.  Through  the  crevices  of  the 
dome  the  sharp,  silvery  rays  of  the  moon  pierced  and 
played  in  quivering  beams  and  zones  of  colour.  The 
pale  blue  sky,  with  its  wealth  of  starry  gems,  was 
visible  from  one  or  two  positions.  A  brisk,  cold 
wind  drove  a  little  snow  into  our  igloo  and  over  our 
beds,  but  this  did  not  disturb  us.  We  wrote,  read, 
and  played  cards  by  the  aid  of  a  candle,  and  at  a 
time  which  we  guessed  to  be  eleven  o'clock,  we  fell 
asleep. 

August  2. — We  did  not  awake  until  about  nine 
o'clock  to-day.  Breakfast  was  prepared  while  we 
made  a  hasty  examination  of  our  situation.  The 
horizon  was  obscured  by  a  light  fog ;  it  had  snowed 

358 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

a  little  during  the  night ;  the  lead  was  separating, 
and  zones  of  water-sky  were  noticed  in  nearly  every 
direction.  These  prospects  forbidding  a  continua- 
tion of  our  journey,  we  packed  up  for  the  return. 
Many  seals  appeared  on  the  ice  as  we  left,  and  some 
came  over  to  our  camp  as  if  to  say  **  good-bye." 
We  did  not  molest  them.  The  ship  was  not  in  sight 
when  we  started,  and  we  knew  by  its  changed  posi- 
tion yesterday  that  there  was  considerable  motion 
in  the  ice,  enough  to  make  the  actual  direction  of 
the  Belgica  somewhat  doubtful.  The  light  was  dull 
and  diffused,  making  it  impossible  to  observe  hum- 
mocks and  drifts ;  a  fact  which  caused  constant 
stumbling,  and  the  destruction  of  one  pair  of  ski. 
We  tried  to  take  a  compass  course,  but  this  was 
difficult  because  the  light  was  too  vague  to  make 
hummocks  or  landmarks  discernible.  Many  ill- 
defined,  smoky  figures  of  clouds,  generally  oblong, 
were  on  the  sky.  These  indicated  the  disruption  of 
the  ice  and  an  exposure  of  bands  of  open  water, 
which  we  were  soon  to  locate  definitely,  with  much 
disappointment  and  discomfort. 

As  we  advanced  we  heard  whales  spouting  on  all 
sides,  but  could  not  yet  see  them  or  the  open  water 
in  which  they  gambolled.  A  little  farther  on  we 
saw  many  seals,  and  soon  after  a  belt  of  ice  fissured 
in  every  direction.  Thinking  that  we  could  cross 
this  we  strode  over  one  pan  after  another,  expecting 
every  moment  that  we  would  reach  more  solid  ice 
where  we  might  pitch  our  tent  for  the  night.  The 
darkness  advanced,  and  the  pans  separated  more 
and  more.     Soon  it  was  perfectly  dark.    The   ice 

359 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

was  so  black  that  we  could  not  easily  mark  the  dif- 
ference between  it  and  the  waters.  To  proceed 
was  now  impossible,  and  to  camp  on  a  little  pan, 
the  centre  of  a  great  pressure  angle,  was  not  con- 
ducive to  rest,  but  we  had  no  other  choice.  In  a 
few  moments  our  tent  was  pitched,  and  light  within 
offered  a  spark  of  cheerfulness,  but  everything  out- 
side was  as  dismal  as  it  could  possibly  be.  The 
wind  blew  with  a  despairing  howl,  driving  snow 
into  every  opening  or  seam  of  our  fur  suits.  The 
ice  groaned  and  cracked,  and  complained  of  the 
pressure  forced  against  it ;  our  floe  was  little  by  little 
reduced  in  size  until  we  could  hear  the  seals  in  the 
water  as  plainly  as  if  they  were  under  the  tent.  I 
cannot  imagine  a  position  on  the  polar  pack  more 
hopeless.  We  were  tired  and  knew  well  that  we 
would  sleep,  and  perhaps  not  awake  until  dropped 
into  the  cold  water.  To  overcome  this  danger  we 
kept  watch. 

The  seals  during  the  night  came  upon  the  ice  to 
examine  our  tent,  our  ski,  and  our  sledge ;  but  evi- 
dently these  were  not  to  their  liking,  for  they 
went  away,  and  played  and  gambolled  like  children 
on  the  end  of  the  floe.  Whales  also  spouted  all 
around  us,  and  the  wind  brought  their  spray  onto 
our  tent  in  icy  globules.  About  four  o'clock  in  the 
morning  the  pan  broke  within  two  metres  of  the  tent, 
and  we  expected  momentarily  to  see  an  opening  in 
our  floe.  Dawn  came  at  last,  but  the  atmosphere 
was  again  too  obscure  to  permit  a  hope  of  an  early 
advance.  We  thought  we  could  see  more  firm  ice 
south  of  us  and  made  an  effort  to  reach  it,  but  we 

360 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

only  mounted  the  neighbouring  pan.  From  here  all 
further  progress  was  stopped  by  black  bands  of  open 
water.  We  pitched  our  tent  again  and  prepared 
some  hot  food  and  drink.  The  mist  was  so  opaque 
and  so  much  fine  snow  was  drifting  that  it  was  im- 
possible to  see  more  than  ten  or  fifteen  metres.  Occa- 
sionally there  appeared  bright  spots  in  various 
directions,  and  in  these  we  thought  we  could  dis- 
tinguish familiar  icebergs,  but  they  always  proved  to 
be  only  small  hummocks  at  a  short  range. 

In  the  afternoon  the  wind  came  out  of  the  south 
and  cleared  the  air.  We  now  saw  the  Belgica,  and 
also  men  coming  in  our  direction.  This  gave  us  great 
pleasure.  The  ship  was  not  more  than  a  mile  from 
us,  and  the  men  soon  reached  a  floe  south  of  us,  but 
they  could  not  gain  our  floe.  Van  Mirlo  made  a 
desperate  effort,  but  slid  into  the  water  and  nearly 
lost  his  life.  We  ate  a  hearty  meal,  then  again  crept 
into  our  bags.  For  this  night  it  was  not  necessary  to 
keep  a  watch,  because  the  pressure  had  ceased  and 
the  temperature  was  falling  rapidly,  protecting  our 
pan  by  one  of  new  elastic  ice ;  but  a  knife  was 
kept  ready  to  cut  an  opening  for  our  escape  should 
the  ice  suddenly  separate  under  us.  The  night  was 
one  of  comparative  quietness. 

We  arose  early  the  next  morning, — about  8  a.m., — 
prepared  breakfast,  and  at  noon  were  ready  for  a  des- 
perate attempt  to  get  to  the  vessel.  We  left  the  tent 
and  most  of  the  equipment  behind,  but  took  on  our 
sledge  enough  food  and  our  bags,  in  case  it  became 
necessary  to  make  another  camp.  Using  the  sledge 
as  a  bridge,  we  succeeded  in  crossing  the  many  leads 

361 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

and  crevasses  and  reached  the  Belgica  about  two 
o''cIock.  She  seemed  now  a  big  ship  full  of  comfort 
and  rest.  It  was  nearly  two  weeks  before  the  ice 
was  sufficiently  formed  and  packed  around  this  pan 
to  permit  a  removal  of  the  tent. 

The  month  of  August  was,  on  the  whole,  one  of 
the  greatest  disappointments  of  our  experience  in 
the  antarctic.  We  expected  low  temperatures  and 
bright,  cheerful  weather.  With  the  coming  sun  we 
hoped  to  dispel  our  anaemia  and  make  ourselves 
ready  for  a  series  of  difficult  tasks  to  be  undertaken 
in  September  and  October;  but  instead  we  failed 
more  and  more  in  strength,  and  developed  alarming 
mental  symptoms.  One  man  was  temporarily  in- 
sane, and  several  others  were  nearing  a  similar  con- 
dition. The  weather  was  stormy,  the  atmosphere 
was  charged  with  clouds  of  sand-like  drift-snow,  and 
the  sun  was  almost  constantly  invisible,  though  it 
rose  higher  and  higher  and  swept  more  and  more  of 
the  horizon  daily.  For  one  month  following  sunrise, 
like  the  month  preceding  its  departure,  the  condi- 
tions were  in  effect  a  part  of  the  night.  It  is  true  we 
had  a  little  misty  grayness  at  noon  which  we  called 
daylight,  but  this  was  counterbalanced  by  the  never 
ceasing  tempests  which  drove  such  a  blast  of  cut- 
ting snow  that  life  outside  was  impossible.  The  first 
glimpses  of  sunlight  had  aroused  us  to  new  ambitions, 
and  to  spasmodic  spells  of  cheerfulness,  but  this  hell- 
ish series  of  storms  sent  us  again  into  the  most  abject 
gloom  of  the  night. 

The  last  week  of  August  and  the  first  two  weeks 
of  September  was  the  coldest  period  of  the  year.    At 

362 


AiNTAKCnC  NIGHT 

this  time  the  thermometer  ranged  steadily  from 
—  20°  C.  to  —  43^  C  ;  the  lowest  temperature  of  the 
year,  —  43°C.,  being  recorded  at  four  o'clock  in  the 
morning  of  September  eighth.  The  lowest  average 
for  any  one  continuous  month  was  in  July,  —  I2°C. 
From  the  minimum  on  September  eighth,  the  tem- 
perature rose  rapidly  to  +1°  C.  during  the  week 
following,  which  was  a  point  within  a  half  degree  of 
the  maximum  of  the  hottest  weather  of  midsummer. 
We  thus  had  our  coldest  and  our  warmest  weather 
in  the  month  of  September  which,  in  the  cycle  of  the 
seasons  south,  is  similar  to  March  of  the  northern 
hemisphere.  Great  quantities  of  drift-snow  were 
driven  over  the  ice  at  this  time,  and  the  air  was  so 
charged  with  crystals  that  halos  of  the  sun  and  moon, 
and  parhelias  and  paraselenes,  were  of  almost  daily 
occurrence.  The  ice  was  now  the  most  continuous  of 
any  period  of  the  year.  The  limit  of  the  field  in 
which  the  Belgica  was  held  was  not  visible  from  the 
masthead.  From  the  crow's  nest  it  was  always  diffi- 
cult to  determine  the  edges  of  the  fields,  because  the 
raised  pressure  ridges  made  the  cracks  and  narrow 
lines  of  water  beyond  invisible.  We  were,  however, 
easily  able  to  locate  some  wide  leads,  and  the  almost 
constant  smoky  vapour,  which  rose  over  fresh  breaks, 
made  it  possible  to  determine  even  small  cracks. 

We  have  made  the  subject  of  finding  open  spaces 
of  water  a  special  study.  Such  knowledge  is  part  of 
the  acquirement  of  an  antarctic  hunter.  An  inex- 
perienced wanderer  will  walk  over  the  pack  day  after 
day  until  his  eyes  are  blinded  by  the  dazzling  blink 
of  the  ice  before  he  finds  a  trace  of  life ;  but  an  adept 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

will  adopt  the  methods  of  the  penguin  or  the  seal, 
who,  when  stranded  on  a  field  with  the  blow-hole 
closed,  will  mount  a  hummock  and  scan  the  horizon 
to  find  the  jets  of  black  vapour  which  rise  from  open 
spaces  of  water.  We  have  to  go  a  long  distance  now 
to  secure  game  to  replenish  our  larder  with  fresh 
meat,  which  is,  at  present,  almost  our  sole  diet.  The 
life  at  best  is  very  scarce,  and  to  find  it  we  must  roam 
over  the  ice  for  several  miles.  With  a  revolver  in 
our  pockets,  and  a  sheath  knife  at  our  sides,  we  go 
about  daily  from  crevasse  to  crevasse,  eagerly  look- 
ing for  penguins  and  seals.  As  a  rule  we  are  fairly 
successful ;  at  any  rate,  the  table  is  liberally  supplied 
with  fresh  steaks. 


364 


CHAPTER  XXVII 

SUMMER 

October,  1898. 
It  is  but  slowly  that  this  blackness 
of  "the  polar  night  is  dissolved  by  the 
whiteness  of  the  coming  day.  Until 
the  first  weeks  of  September  we  felt 
little  of  the  cheering  influence  of  the 
rising  sun  except  for  short  spasmodic 
periods.  The  human  system  accom- 
modates Itself  sluggishly  and  poorly 
Snow-Goggles,  to  the  Strange  conditionj  of  the  polar 
seasons,  and  we,  too,  are  slow  in  adapiing  ourselves 
to  the  awful  despondency  of  the  long  winter  night. 
It  is  possible  to  close  your  eyes  and  befog  your  brain 
after  a  time,  when  all  the  world  is  erveloped  in  pro- 
longed darkness,  but  this  is  not  physiological  adap- 
tation ;  it  is  abnormal  education.  We  have  all  felt 
the  effects  of  the  night  severely.  The  death  of  Danco, 
and  also  the  insanity  of  a  sailor,  are  due  to  this  ith- 
drawal  of  light.  Now  that  the  light  is  brigntening 
every  day,  we  are  as  backward  in  recuperating  as  we 
were  in  establishing  a  balance  of  living  comfort  dur 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

Ing  the  vanishing  dawn  of  the  early  night.  The  pres- 
ent cheering  influence  of  the  rising  sun  invites  labour 
and  frivolity.  The  soothing  light  of  the  long  even- 
ing twilights  invites  repose.  The  change  from  day 
to  night  and  from  night  to  day,  so  long  absent  from 
our  outlook,  is  now  beginning  to  lighten  the  burdens 
of  the  weary  mind  and  the  aching  muscles;  elevat- 
ing the  depressed  spirits  of  hope,  augmenting  the 
dwarfed  courage,  and  raising  the  moral  perceptions 
to  the  great  life  battle  of  work  before  us. 

We  have  talked  only  of  the  discomforts  of  the 
night,  and  of  the  misery.  The  long  unbroken  dark- 
ness has  not  totally  blinded  us  to  its  few  real  charms 
which  are  strikingly  brought  out  by  the  awful  con- 
trasts of  heat  and  cold,  of  light  and  darkness.  As 
lovers  of  Nature,  we  found  many  pleasures  for  the  eye 
and  the  intellect  in  the  flashing  aurora  australis,  in  the 
play  of  intense  silvery  moonlight  over  the  mountain- 
ous seas  of  ice,  and  in  the  fascinating  clearness  of  the 
starlight  over  the  endless  expanse  of  driven  snows. 
There  was  a  naked  fierceness  in  the  scenes,  a  bois- 
terous wildness  in  the  storms,  a  sublimity  and  silence  in 
the  still,  cold  dayless  nights,  which  were  too  impres- 
sive to  be  entirely  overshadowed  by  the  soul-despair- 
ing depression.  The  attractions  of  the  polar  night 
are  not  to  be  written  in  the  language  of  a  people  who 
live  in  a  land  of  sunshine  and  of  flowers.  They  are 
found  in  a  roughness,  ruggedness,  and  severity,  ap- 
preciated only  by  men  who  are  fated  to  live  in  similar 
regions,  on  the  verge  of  another  world,  where  animal 
sentiments  take  the  place  of  the  finer,  but  less  real- 
istic human  passions. 

366 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

From  May  31,  when  we  were  in  latitude  71°  36', 
a  point  farthest  south,  to  September  16,  when 
we  were  in  latitude  69°  51'  16'',  we  steadily  and 
persistently  drifted  northward.  The  movement  has 
been  extremely  slow,  and  at  times  we  have  been  sta- 
tionary, but  we  have  not  gone  south  with  northerly 
winds.  This  we  explain  by  the  fact  that  new  ice 
forms  rapidly  in  the  leads  which  open  behind  us, 
thus  closing  all  the  spaces.  In  a  similar  manner,  but 
with  many  more  interruptions,  and  with  a  much  more 
rapid  pace,  we  have  drifted  eastward  during  this 
time  from  longitude  87°  2>?>'  2>^"  to  82^  22'  45." 
The  longitudinal  drift,  however,  has  changed  with 
every  direction  of  the  wind.  From  this  time  until 
November  19,  we  drifted  southward  again,  while  still 
continuing  our  easterly  drift. 

October  15. — We  are  now  able  to  read  our  ther- 
mometers and  other  instruments  outside  without  arti- 
ficial light  from  2:30  a.m.  to  9:30  p.m.  The  five  hours 
of  night  are  made  so  brilliant  by  the  twilight  during 
clear  weather  that  we  can  read  ordinary  print  all 
night.  We  no  longer  need  lamps  on  board  during  the 
day,  which  is  fortunate,  for  our  stock  of  candles  and 
petroleum  is  getting  low.  The  snow  in  the  night 
now  assumes  a  noticeable  brightness  after  a  day  of 
sharp  sunshine.  During  the  long  night,  and  in  the 
early  days  of  spring  when  the  sun  was  feeble,  the  snow 
was  dull  and  black.  The  present  change  to  a  sort 
of  phosphorescence  I  have  ascribed  to  a  kind  of  la- 
tent retention  by  the  snow  of  the  light  of  the  sun. 
I  have  taken  much  interest  in  this  phenomenon,  and 
have  recently  made  certain  tests  which  seem  to  confirm 

2>^7 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

my  theory.  For  a  number  of  days  I  have  placed  black 
cloths  over  certain  smooth  fields  of  snow.  During 
the  night  I  have  removed  these  and  invariably  there 
has  been  a  dark  spot,  corresponding  to  the  size  of 
the  cloth,  while  the  snow  everywhere  else  was  semi- 
luminous.  This,  in  my  estimation,  proves  that  the 
snow  absorbs  and  retains  for  a  time  certain  rays  of 
light. 

There  is  now  considerable  life,  but  we  must  go  far 
to  find  it.  The  leads  are  several  miles  from  the  ship. 
When  we  get  to  them  they  seem  like  huge  endless 
rivers,  winding  through  a  white  plain.  On  the 
banks  are  lines  of  pressure  ridges,  from  two  to  twenty 
feet  high.  In  these  spaces  of  water  are  some  freed 
icebergs  and  a  few  small  pans  of  old  ice;  but  the 
low  temperature  soon  covers  every  bit  of  open  sea 
with  an  even  sheet  of  new  ice,  through  which  the 
whales  and  seals  must  force  their  blow-holes. 
Nature  favours  them  by  breaks  here  and  there ;  but 
the  steady,  calm,  cold  weather  of  the  present  is 
opposed  to  much  ice-movement,  which  accounts  for 
the  few  breaks.  All  of  the  seals  which  have  been  seen 
since  the  months  of  April  and  May  are  crab-eaters 
(Lobodon  Carcinophaga).  They  seem  to  travel  in 
groups  of  from  two  to  ten,  and  they  follow  the  leads 
southward  after  every  storm.  The  whales  do  the 
same,  and  when  the  new  ice  forms,  and  the  retreat  is 
cut  off,  they  seek  the  regions  about  the  icebergs  where 
the  retarding  influence  of  the  bergs  in  the  drift 
causes  enough  commotion  to  keep  spaces  of  water 
open.  Failing  in  this,  they  break  through  the  new 
ice  by  forcing  their  heads  through  it.     It  is  a  curious 

368 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

fact  that,  up  to  the  present,  we  have  seen  only  finback 
whales  (Balaenoptera  Sibbaldii)  in  the  pack,  but  now 
we  find  an  occasional  bottlenose  (Megaptera  Boops) 
in  the  little  lakes  and  streams.  The  convenience, 
which  the  whale  and  seal  holes  offer,  made  us  think 
that  perhaps  penguins  might  utilise  them  as  breath- 
ing spaces,  but  this  never  happened  so  far  as  our 
experience  went.  Penguins,  being  better  able  to 
move  over  the  ice,  have  a  wider  range  of  habitation, 
and  they  always  use  open  leads. 

The  weather,  the  ice,  and  the  general  life  and 
surroundings  have  been  so  monotonous  for  the  past 
month,  that  I  have  found  little  of  interest  to  tabulate. 
The  general  health  of  the  crew  is  improving.  They 
no  longer  have  an  anxious,  dejected  aspect,  and  their 
spirits  are  rising.  In  clear  weather  they  sing,  and 
dance,  and  speak  in  happy,  cheerful  tones.  The 
ship  is  being  prepared  for  sea,  which  is  a  matter  of 
considerable  work.  Being  imprisoned  in  the  grasp 
of  the  pack  for  these  many  months  has  made  the 
locality  like  a  small  village.  Out-houses,  sledges, 
sounding  machines,  and  many  other  things  are 
strewn  on  the  pack.  Aboard,  the  fixtures  have  all 
been  more  or  less  disarranged,  so  that  everything 
must  be  restored  and  refitted  for  the  new  voyage. 
We  have  filled  the  water-tanks  with  snow.  By 
burning  seal  blubber  and  coal  in  our  condenser,  we 
are  able  to  melt  snow  and  bring  the  resulting  water 
to  a  boiling  point  very  quickly ;  this  is  poured  over 
the  snow  in  the  tanks.  This  method  is  very  satis- 
factory, for  in  this  way  we  are  able  to  make  sev- 
eral hundred  gallons  of  water  daily.     I  believe,  how- 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

ever,  that  a  jet  of  steam  directed  into  the  tanks 
would  do  the  work  much  more  quickly  and  with 
greater  economy  ;  but  to  make  the  necessary  altera- 
tions for  this  is,  with  our  equipment,  quite  impossible. 

Could  there  be  a  more  melancholy,  a  more  mad- 
dening, or  a  more  hopeless  region  than  this  ?  We 
are  passing  rapidly  into  the  polar  summer,  the  time 
when,  in  other  zones,  all  Nature  smiles;  —  even  the 
sister  zone,  the  arctic,  has  striking  attractive  features 
at  this  time.  The  birds  fill  the  air  with  music,  new 
animals  make  their  appearance,  and  on  land  even 
flowers  and  mosquitos  serve  to  make  life  interesting ; 
but  here,  in  this  icy  antarctic  wilderness,  the  charm 
of  Nature  is  dead.  We  see  the  sun  so  seldom  that 
it  is,  indeed,  a  surprise  when  its  unobstructed  rays 
fall  upon  the  frosted  whiteness.  Though  it  sweeps 
more  than  half  of  the  horizon  daily,  we  get  only  the 
cold  blue  light  which  is  filtered  through  a  constant 
haze  of  icy  clouds.  An  occasional  sunburst  for  a  few 
moments  each  day  and  a  clear  sky  once  fortnightly 
is  our  average.  Storms,  tempests,  and  steady  howl- 
ing winds  with  snow,  are  our  constant  lot,  and  these 
come  from  all  points  of  the  compass.  There  is  no 
inspiring  solitude,  no  rest,  no  cheerful  outlook  ;  the 
sea  is  imprisoned  under  a  restless  and  irregular 
mass  of  storm-driven  ice.  The  sky  is  always  cloudy 
and  dirty ;  the  air  is  always  wet,  cold,  and  agitated ; 
under  such  circumstances  the  human  mind  assumes 
a  like  attitude. 

For  two  days  we  have  had  a  fierce  gale  veering 
from  south-east  to  south-west ;  an  excellent  direction 
to  send  us  north  at  a  rapid  pace,  which  is  a  pleasant 

370 


An  Old  Wind-swept  Hummock. 


The  Sand-like  Drift  Snow. 


ANTARCTIC   NIGHT 

consolation  for  the  ill-effects  on  the  spirits  and  on  the 
personal  comfort.  The  storm  is,  of  its  kind,  the 
worst  I  have  ever  seen.  The  wind  is  strong,  but  one 
could  hardly  call  it  a  tempest ;  it  brings  with  it,  how- 
ever, all  the  elements  of  misery  which  follow  a  tem- 
pest. The  air  is  so  loaded  with  very  fine  snow- 
crystals  that  its  action  upon  the  face  is  something  of 
the  nature  of  emery  paper.  This  snow  is  blown  in 
gusts  and  constant  streams,  which  scrape  and  rasp 
all  projections,  and  bury  every  declivity,  while  the 
snowy  surface  is  cut  into  small  ridges  which  we  call 
cestrugi;  and  around  the  Belgica  it  is  deposited  to 
such  an  extent  that  nothing  but  the  masts  are  visible. 
A  very  strange  accompaniment  is  a  perfectly  cloud- 
less blue  sky  at  the  zenith,  while  all  along  the  hori- 
zon there  is  an  opaque  circle  of  icy  haze,  which  is 
tinged  with  the  most  delicate  hues  of  red,  blue,  and 
yellow.  One  can  nowhere  see  more  than  loo  metres, 
yet  this  haze  seems  far  off.  It  is,  of  course,  the 
driven  snow  which  causes  this  phenomenon,  and  also 
a  nearly  constant  parhelia;  but  the  fact  that  the  sky 
above  is  perfectly  clear  proves  that  the  obscurity  is 
very  low'  on  the  ice,  perhaps  not  more  than  ten 
metres,  for  the  topmasts  of  the  ship  are  visible  above 
it,  and  now  and  then  the  tops  of  icebergs  also  ap- 
pear. The  picturesque  effect  of  this  hurling,  seeth- 
ing confusion  of  icy  crystals  is  far  beyond  my  power 
to  paint  in  words.  It  is  a  picture  at  once  full  of 
incomprehensible  grandeur,  indescribable  discomfort, 
and  irresistible  attractiveness.  But  who  will  tabulate 
this  with  enthusiasm  when  snow  is  being  driven  down 
your  neck,  into  your  eyes,  ears,  and  almost  into  the 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

pores  of  your  skin,  while  your  boots,  your  mittens, 
and  every  opening  or  fold  of  clothing  are  filled  with 
snow  at  a  temperature  of  —  20°  C,  ?  Who  will  paint 
the  colours,  or  sing  the  joys  of  Nature,  when  the  wind 
pipes  the  notes  of  a  buzz-saw,  and  will  not  permit 
you  to  stoop  without  helping  you  to  a  sommersault  ? 

The  Commandant  gave  us  a  new  programme  yes- 
terday for  the  summer  campaign  but  we  do  not  now 
regard  programmes  seriously.  We  think  more  of 
the  many  little  things  which  cause  life  to  fall  and 
drift  and  settle  into  our  boots,  like  the  snow  around 
us.  Indeed,  there  are  but  few  things  greatly  inter- 
esting, except  the  character  of  our  food,  the  prosecu- 
tion of  our  special  work,  and  the  prospect  of  our 
release  from  the  iron  grasp  of  the  rigid  pack. 

I  have  heard  of  a  deaf  man  who  once  said  that  life 
was  of  value  to  him  only  because  of  ''reading,  eat- 
ing, drinking,  and  the  prospect  of  death."  This  sen- 
timent in  a  modified  form  would,  I  am  certain,  be 
the  confession  of  many,  if  not  most,  of  our  party, 
during  every  stormy  period.  The  modification  is, 
perhaps,  only  in  the  last  word,  and  this  we  would 
change  to  "  the  prospect  of  an  early  return  to  the 
inner  world  and  to  renewed  social  conditions."  The 
storms  are  so  numerous  and  close  that  a  tempest 
is  nearly  always  on  the  horizon.  If  it  is  not  so,  as 
was  the  case  a  week  ago,  the  air  about  the  BeU 
gica  rings  with  happy  voices  and  musical  sounds. 
But  there  is  always  something  to  make  hilarity 
short-lived.  If  it  is  not  the  weather  it  is  a  frozen 
batch  of  skins,  a  garment  hopelessly  torn  which  needs 
mending,  a  watch  to  repair,  a  boot  to  mend,  a  camera 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

to  alter,  or  any  one  of  a  thousand  discomforts  and 
distractions  about  the  ship  which  send  the  soul  to  the 
verge  of  desperation.  To-night  I  have  stockings  to 
darn,  to-morrow  pantaloons  to  mend,  and  all  of  next 
week  carpenter-work,  mending  and  making  sledges, 
sewing  sails,  dressing  skins,  and  taking  photos  in 
a  temperature  —22^  C. —  all  of  this  is  far  from  pleas- 
ant, but  it  contains  a  lesson.  It  teaches  us  how 
much  of  the  drudgery  of  life  is  done  uncomplainingly 
by  mothers,  sisters,  wives,  and  other  members  of  the 
family  circle.  It  makes  us  feel  the  importance  of  fem- 
inine existence,  causes  us  to  see  the  ups  and  downs, 
the  ponds  and  eddies,  the  rapids  and  cataracts  of  the 
humdrum  side  of  life  which  man  ordinarily  escapes. 

November  16. — The  winter  night,  with  its  death- 
dealing  blackness,  has  passed ;  the  spring,  with  its 
awful  storms  and  gray  monotony  has  followed,  and 
the  summer,  with  its  continuous  noonday  splendour, 
commences  to-day.  At  least  it  ought  to,  if  our  esti- 
mated position  is  correct.  We  have,  however,  had 
no  observations  in  a  week,  and  are  not,  in  conse- 
quence, able  to  fix  our  exact  position,  and  the  per- 
sistent cloudiness  of  the  sky  is  such  that  we  cannot 
determine  whether  the  sun  is  above  or  below  the 
horizon  at  midnight. 

November  25. — Latitude  70°  25',  longitude  S^^ 
27'.  For  more  than  a  week  the  sun  has  sailed 
around  our  heavens  without  setting,  and  thus  we 
have  entered  upon  our  summer  nightless  days.  We 
should  have  seen  its  warm  glow  at  midnight  and  at 
mid-day,  but  we  have  not  seen  it  at  all,  not  even  for 
one  hour,  during  this  time.     By  this  I  do  not  mean 

373 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

that  it  is  dark  ;  in  fact,  it  is  quite  the  contrary.  It  is 
too  Hght.  The  sky  has  been  constantly  Hned  with 
thick  clouds,  and  there  has  been  an  endless  period  of 
fog  and  snow;  but  under  all  of  this  opacity  the  light, 
by  refraction  from  the  cold  mist  and  by  reflection  from 
the  dazzling  whiteness  of  the  unbroken  snow,  has 
been  so  great  that  all  who  have  not  worn  goggles 
have  complained  of  incipient  snow-blindness.  At 
night,  or  during  the  sleeping  hours,  the  men  are 
compelled  to  hang  black  cloths  over  the  ports  to 
gain  sleep  and  rest  from  the  diffused,  piercing  light. 
Nearly  every  one  is  suffering,  more  or  less,  from  in- 
somnia, and  the  cases  which  have  been  mentally 
deranged  before  show  new  signs  of  disturbance. 
Thus,  though  the  light,  even  during  cloudy  days,  is 
too  strong  for  our  eyes,  and  at  night  too  piercing  to 
permit  sleep  we  long,  with  an  intensity  impossible 
to  describe,  to  see  the  unobscured  face  of  the  sun, 
and  we  hunger  for  its  warm,  life-giving  rays. 

November  26. — At  last  we  have  had  a  little  direct 
sunshine,  and  what  seems  very  strange  is  that  this 
has  come  to  us  with  continued  northerly  winds. 
Without  exception  thus  far,  the  wind  from  this  di- 
rection has  been  warm  and  humid,  bringing  clouds, 
snow,  rain  and  everything  to  make  life  uncomfort- 
able. We  can  only  come  to  one  conclusion,  which 
is  that  we  have  been  steadily  driven  south  against 
the  main  body  of  a  closer  pack.  The  pack  before  us 
towards  the  open  sea,  of  which  there  is  perhaps  not 
less  than  three  hundred  miles,  has  been  driven  to- 
gether. With  such  a  condition  of  things  we  might 
suppose  that  the  wind  would  not  be  so  thoroughly 

374 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

charged  with  pack  vapour.  But  this  is  a  hypothe- 
sis. The  fact  is  that  we  have  fair  weather,  which  is 
unusual  with  wind  from  any  direction  but  south,  and 
we  are  feasting  our  souls  on  direct  sunny  rays,  the 
first  in  weeks. 

There  is  a  somewhat  surprising  movement  in  the 
individual  masses  of  the  pack,  as  is  seen  by  the  chang- 
ing position  of  the  various  icebergs.  In  this  move- 
ment there  is  regular  order  in  the  direction.  It  is 
not  a  motion  like  the  entire  drift  of  the  main  pack, 
to  and  fro  in  response  to  the  wind.  The  Belgica, 
firmly  held  in  the  body  of  a  floe  whose  general 
diameter  has  been  about  four  miles,  has  turned  her 
prow  steadily  with  but  very  little  interruption  from 
south  in  May,  to  west  in  August,  to  north  in 
October,  and  she  is  now  —  22°  C.  on  her  way  to  the 
east.  From  this  we  can  draw  only  one  conclusion — 
that  there  is  a  feeble  undercurrent  which,  acting  on 
the  bergs,  is  the  cause  of  local  disturbance  in  every 
pack.  Our  observations  thus  far  verify  this  curious 
suggestion.  The  floe  in  which  we  are  fixed  has  no 
icebergs  in  its  grasp,  like  many  of  the  floes  around  us. 
If  such  a  current  existed  it  would  not  be  propelled 
with  the  same  force  as  the  berg- charged  floes, 
but  with  a  tendency  to  lag  behind  an  active  mass  to 
the  one  side  would,  by  friction  against  its  side,  cause 
it  to  revolve.  Such  has  been  our  experience.  A 
group  of  floes,  in  which  there  have  been  several  huge 
tabular  bergs  entangled,  has  slowly  but  persistently 
passed  around  our  starboard,  while  we  have  turned 
in  response  to  it ;  and  as  a  final  proof  of  this  move- 
ment we  have  constantly  observed  the  appearance 

375 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

of  new  bergs  south,   and  the  disappearance  of  old 
friends  to  the  north. 

The  winter  effects  on  the  ship  have  been  ex- 
tremely injurious.  Her  hull  has  been  subjected 
to  very  little  pressure,  but  she  has  been  unevenly 
covered  with  snow ;  the  stern,  buried  and  forced 
below  her  natural  water-line,  has  made  her  leak; 
the  bow  has  been  exposed  to  the  many  alternate 
freezings  and  thawings ;  the  rigging,  for  much  of 
the  time,  has  been  loaded  with  a  ponderous  weight 
of  accumulated  hoar-frost  which,  with  its  continued 
movement  in  the  never-ceasing  storms,  has  weak- 
ened every  fibre  of  rope,  and  now  the  burning  sun 
splits  the  masts  like  sticks  of  green  wood  near  a 
fire.  The  interior  has  also  suffered  great  injury. 
The  constant  drying  effects  of  the  internal  heat  has 
split  or  cracked  nearly  every  important  beam,  while 
the  seams  are  everywhere  wide  open.  There  are 
two  things  we  seldom  have  here  which  will  certainly 
seem  strange  to  my  readers.  They  are  sunshine  and 
snow-showers.  In  a  region  where  the  sun  does  not 
set  for  a  period  of  more  than  two  months,  one  cer- 
tainly has  a  right  to  expect  fair  and  sunny  days,  and 
likewise  in  an  area  where  the  whole  face  of  the 
earth,  both  land  and  water,  is  buried  under  a  peren- 
nial sheet  of  snow  one  naturally  expects  to  see  fre- 
quent falls  of  heavy  snow ;  but  in  reality,  both 
sunshine  and  actual  snow-showers  are  very  rare,  so 
much  so  that  their  appearance  affords  a  special  delight 
and  a  great  surprise.  To-day  we  have  had  the  phe- 
nomenal pleasure  of  having  both  in  one  day.  Real 
sunbeams  in  the  morning,  large  and  slowly  falling 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

flakes  of  snow  in  the  afternoon.  We  have  had  appro- 
priate music  to  celebrate  the  occasion  and  are  happy. 

November  27. — Our  winter  temperature  was  very 
slow  in  falling,  and  the  minimum  was  not  reached 
until  after  sunrise.  Our  lowest  observation  was 
recorded  on  September  8,  —43.1°  C.  In  less  than 
ten  days  after  this  it  had  risen  to  a  fraction  above 
zero,  and  we  were  drenched  with  rain  and  melting 
snow ;  since  then  it  has  occasionally  fallen  to  —  20^, 
but  it  has  slowly  and  persistently  risen  until  now  the 
normal  temperature  is  one  or  two  degrees  below 
zero,  falling  with  a  southerly  wind  to  —  10°  and  rising 
above  zero  with  a  strong  northerly  wind. 

The  zoologist  has  seen  what  he  persists  in  calling 
a  new  bird.  It  resembles  the  giant  petrel  in  size  and 
colour,  but  its  motion  is  entirely  different.  Anatom- 
ical details  have  not  been  observed,  and,  ''The  bird," 
says  the  naturalist,  ''  is  either  shot-proof  or  it  is  able 
to  dodge  the  lead."  But  since  Mr.  Racovitza  had 
considerable  fun  from  our  mistaken  reports  of  true 
sea-leopards,  we  have  taken  advantage  of  this  story 
to  restore  our  fallen  reputation.  We  persist  in  saying 
that  unless  he  produces  the  bird,  or  gives  us  an  exact 
technical  description,  anatomical  and  physiological, 
we  maintain  the  privilege  of  ascribing  the  sight  to  a 
kind  of  sunny  intoxication  which  at  present,  under 
the  influence  of  the  midnight  sun,  is  not  uncommon. 


zn 


CHAPTER   XXVIII 

SUMMER  (CONTINUED). 

December  2. — Our  drift  lately  has  been  almost 
imperceptible.  The  winds,  always  feeble  and  never 
continuing  long  in  one  direction,  have  simply  kept 
up  a  little  agitation  in  the  pack  while  the  tides  have 
driven  the  bergs  to  and  fro  a  little,  and  thus  the 
pack  has  become  more  and  more  divided.  For 
most  of  the  time  the  wind  has  followed  the  sun 
around  the  horizon,  and  nothing  could  be  more  in- 
effectual in  making  ice  navigable  than  light,  shifting 
winds.  Since  it  takes  the  pack  a  long  time  to  gain 
momentum,  a  wind  which  does  not  last  for  several 
days  is  of  no  use  unless  it  is  a  tempest.  Our  lati- 
tude to-day  is  70°  18',  longitude  83°  25'.  Our  drift 
throughout  the  season  has  been  considerable.  If  it 
had  been  in  one  direction  it  could  have  taken  us 
across  the  south  pole  or  to  the  magnetic  pole. 

During  the  winter,  and  a  part  of  the  advancing  sum- 
mer, we  have  made  various  guesses  as  to  when  the 
bark  would  be  liberated  from  the  grasp  of  the  pack. 
The  captain  has  set  the  day  of  departure  at  October 
25;  I  at  November  15;  Amundsen,  February  i. 
Both  the  captain  and  I  are  already  overruled,  and 

378 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

there  is  even  some  fear  of  a  possible  second  winter. 
Yesterday  a  lead  made  its  appearance  loo  metres 
to  the  east,  running  north,  and  for  the  past  few  weeks 
we  have  watched  with  considerable  interest  the 
slow  but  persistent  diminution  of  our  pan.  From  its 
original  nearly  circular  form,  five  miles  across  and 
three  metres  thick,  it  has  dwindled  to  less  than 
one-half  its  original  size,  and  even  the  thickness  of 
the  ice  is  rapidly  decreasing.  The  temperature  has 
gradually  ascended,  with  very  many  irregular  curves, 
from  an  average  in  September  of-i8°  to  —3^  C. 
now.  But  the  change  has  been  so  irregular  that  the 
effect  has  hardly  been  felt. 

During  the  entire  winter  and  throughout  the 
year,  though  snow  fell  almost  every  day,  even  on 
the  brightest  and  the  clearest  days,  the  total  snow- 
fall seemed  small  at  all  times.  There  are  two 
reasons  for  this.  First,  the  actual  snow-showers, 
as  seen  in  temperate  regions,  periods  when  much 
snow  falls  within  a  short  time,  were  quite  un- 
known. Second,  the  topography  of  the  pack  is 
such  that  every  wind  carries  before  it  huge  drifts 
of  snow  which  it  deposits  in  open  leads,  where  it 
is  either  melted  or  converted  into  ice  at  once. 
During  the  blackness  of  the  night,  and  during  the 
endless  gray  snow-days  since,  we  have  constantly 
longed  for  a  fair  old-time  snow-storm :  a  storm 
bringing  sufficient  snow  to  blanket  the  ship  and 
keep  us  warm  inside:  a  gentle,  quiet  fall  of  large, 
soft  flakes  to  soften  the  hard  outlines  of  the  pack, 
and  without  the  ever  accompanying  thunder  of  winds 
and  whizzing,  cutting,  maddening  ice-crystals.     But 

379 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

such  a  pleasure  has  not  been  mixed  with  our  as- 
signed experiences.  I  think  it  is  Nansen  who  says 
"  the  snowless  ice-plain  is  like  a  life  without  love," 
and  in  this  there  is  a  truth  which  can  only  be  realised 
by  men  who,  like  us,  are  imprisoned  in  the  polar 
pack.  The  constant  war  of  the  winds,  which  here 
strive  for  a  place,  brings  about  a  restless  agitation 
of  the  ice.  Now  it  is  driven  east,  then  north,  then 
south,  and  so  on,  tearing  the  floes,  crushing  pans, 
crowding  huge  pieces  over  each  other,  making  hum- 
mocks, cliffs,  ridges,  crevasses,  and  what  not ;  a  veri- 
table chaos  of  icy  destruction,  a  surface  impassable 
for  a  journey,  and  unpleasant  to  the  eye. 

The  sharp,  rough  angles  of  the  hard  ice  project 
like  the  ribs  of  a  famished  animal,  making  a  picture 
quite  as  melancholy  in  the  feeble  light  of  winter  and 
early  summer.  Snow,  deep,  soft  snow,  has  upon 
this  coarse  framework  an  effect  like  that  of  fat  on  the 
animal.  It  covers  the  ugly  open  rifts,  pads  the  sharp 
corners,  and  it  gives  a  smooth,  pleasant,  rounded 
surface  to  the  pack  in  general.  It  buries  the  un- 
pleasant ruggedness  and  the  gloomy  blackness  under 
a  velvety  covering  of  white,  which  is  always  pleasing 
to  the  eye.  It  gives  to  the  pack  a  face  at  once  sug- 
gestive of  warmth  and  fertility.  It  is  only  within 
the  past  few  days  that  we  have  had  sufficient  snow 
at  one  time  to  give  to  our  moving  sea  of  ice  this 
much-to-be-desired  aspect.  Snow  has  fallen  in  great 
quantities ;  not  softly  and  without  wand,  but  noisily 
and  with  the  never-ceasing  gale  which  is  so  char- 
acteristic of  this  region.  The  quantities,  however, 
have  been  sufficient  to  bury  the  Belgica  in  a  huge 

380 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

drift,  and  the  bare  ridges,  hummocks  and  irregulari- 
ties, are  softened  by  the  most  beautiful  crystal  drift 
in  which  the  sunbeams  play  like  kittens. 

December  i6. — There  appears  to  be  a  promise  in 
the  air  and  in  the  quick  rising  of  the  barometer 
which  bespeaks  a  tempest,  and  how  we  long  for  it ! 
Almost  the  entire  year  has  been  one  long  monoto- 
nous series  of  tempests,  but  now  that  we  need  one  to 
break  asunder  the  floe  which  retains  us  as  prisoners, 
and  open  navigable  leads  of  water,  it  is  tardy  in 
making  its  appearance.  For  nearly  two  months  the 
barometer  has  been  steady,  and  only  spasmodic  jerks 
or  varying  breezes  have  driven  us  about.  If  we  had 
had  but  one  of  the  many  tempests  which,  during  the 
winter,  made  life  so  miserable,  we  might  have  been 
freed.  The  temperature  is  rapidly  rising ;  now  gener- 
ally about  —  2^  C,  at  mid-day  slightly  above  zero,  and 
at  midnight  from  —  6^  C.  to  —  io°  C.  We  thus  have 
our  greatest  diurnal  range.  The  snow  on  the  pack 
is  melting  with  a  surprising  rapidity,  and  about  the 
ship  there  is  a  zone  of  water  in  which  she  sits  in  her 
natural  environment.  The  pack  everywhere  is  break- 
ing into  small  pans,  but  our  old  floe  holds  together 
with  a  surprising  tenacity;  it  is  about  seven  miles 
in  circumference,  and  is  lessening  very  slowly  along 
its  fringe,  but  apparently  the  snow  which  the  masts 
have  swept  and  condensed  out  of  the  winds  holds  it 
with  unnatural  firmness,  for  it  is  certainly  the  largest 
floe  in  our  neighbourhood.  We  watch  every  new 
piece  which  is  torn  off  its  edge  with  a  pleasure  and 
an  assumed  confidence  of  an  early  liberation,  but  if 
the  Belgica  were  now  in  free  water  she  could  do 

381 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

nothing  but  wait.     The  ice  is  so  closely  packed  that 
progress  would  be  absolutely  impossible. 

These  unsystematic  winds  and  steady  weather  have 
kept  us  in  a  locality  over  which  we  have  sounded 
and  fished,  hence  there  is  a  sort  of  stagnation  of 
work — no  sounding  and  no  fishing.  To  obtain 
birds  for  the  collection,  meat  for  our  food,  and  blub- 
ber to  melt  snow  is,  however,  a  matter  of  no  lit- 
tle labour.  The  men  have  had  the  second  week  of 
half-days  to  mend  their  personal  effects,  and  since 
these  are  next  to  nothing  they  use  the  time  in  hunt- 
ing, reading  and  discussion.  A  new  system  of  pen- 
guin hunting  has  been  discovered.  At  meal-time  a 
cornet  is  used  to  call  the  men  together,  and  the 
penguins,  it  seems,  also  like  this  music;  for  when 
they  hear  it  they  make  directly  for  the  ship,  and 
remain  as  long  as  the  music  lasts,  but  leave  at  once 
when  it  ceases.  In  this  manner  we  have  only  to 
wait  and  seize  our  visitors  to  obtain  penguin  steaks, 
which  are,  just  at  present,  the  prize  of  the  menu. 
But  not  so  with  the  seals, — they  like  music,  and  will 
come  up  out  of  the  water  onto  the  ice  to  enjoy  it, 
but  they  will  not  deposit  their  carcasses,  penguin 
fashion,  on  board.  On  the  other  hand,  when  we 
approach  them  they  are  more  easily  obtained.  A 
shot  from  a  revolver  straightens  them  out,  but  then 
we  have  to  transport  1 50  pounds  of  blubber  and  50 
pounds  of  meat  over  rough,  hummocky  ice  to  the 
ship.  This  is  an  occupation  which  easily  drives  sport 
out  of  one.  Our  good  sailors,  however,  do  it  volun- 
tarily, and  at  times  when  free  from  regular  work. 

A  few  days  ago  Amundsen  and  I  resolved  to  make 

382 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

a  final  attempt  to  reach  the  tabular  iceberg  in  the 
east.  It  has  long  been  our  ambition  to  do  this,  as 
it  has  been  the  one  venturesome  aim  of  every  man 
on  board.  We  have  tried  it  several  times  before,  but 
always  in  vain.  Wide  open  leads  have  prevented 
our  going  more  than  four  or  five  miles,  and  have 
also  cut  off  our  retreat.  But  now  we  decided  to  take 
no  food  and  no  provision  for  sleep,  but  to  push  boldly 
to  the  berg  and  back  in  one  day.  We  left  after 
matte  at  4  o'clock ;  the  wind  was  light  and  easterly, 
the  sky  clear,  with  a  temperature  —7°.  We  had  no 
difficulty  in  making  the  first  seven  miles,  but  the 
two  miles  about  the  berg  were  much  torn  and 
separated  by  lakes.  Among  this  small  ice  there 
were  several  seals,  mostly  Weddells  (Lep tony c hot es 
Weddelli),  but  we  also  killed  the  first  true  sea- 
leopard  {Og7norhynus  Leptonyx)  here,  and  also  a 
crab-eater  {Lobodon  Carcinophagd),  which  we  cached 
with  a  view  to  later  use  as  a  food  supply  as  a  last 
resort  in  case  the  ice  separated  so  much  as  to  pre- 
vent our  easy  retreat.  We  saw  here,  also,  some 
giant  petrels  {pssifraga  giganted),  and  some  white 
petrels  (^pagodroma  nived).  The  floes  appeared 
smaller  and  smaller,  as  we  approached  the  berg, 
and  around  it  they  w^ere  mere  discs  of  about  an 
average  diameter  of  seven  metres ;  these  were 
separated  by  huge  quantities  of  brash.  After  con- 
siderable difficulty  we  finally  found  a  place  on  the 
iceberg  where  we  could  make  a  debarkment.  The 
ascent  was  over  a  long  platform  which  resembled 
an  ice-fort  of  the  arctic  land-ice.  It  was  the  base 
of  a   cliff  of  ice   which  once   covered   it,    but   the 

383 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

berg  was  perfectly  tabular.  We  estimated  the  ice- 
berg to  be  800  metres  long,  500  metres  wide,  and 
40  metres  high.  To  its  crest  there  was  but  one 
access  in  the  valley  made  by  the  decay  of  a  part  of 
the  cliff.  We  ascended  this  without  difficulty,  and 
reached  the  top  in  a  few  moments. 

From  here  the  view  of  the  pack  was  superb.  We 
counted  seventy-five  icebergs  on  the  horizon,  of 
which  ten  were  tabular.  They  seemed  to  be  evenly 
scattered  over  the  pack.  The  sea-ice  appeared  blue 
under  the  midnight  sun,  for  it  was  nearly  mid- 
night before  we  reached  our  destination.  The  floes 
seemed  small,  averaging  about  one  mile  in  diameter, 
except  those  close  to  the  berg.  Here  and  there 
were  seals,  and  white  petrels  flew  about  our  heads. 
The  Belgica  appeared  in  the  endless  blue  expanse 
westward,  and  to  us,  at  our  distance,  she  was  not 
unlike  a  stick  in  the  ice  not  far  off.  Nothing  par- 
ticularly new  was  in  our  increased  horizon ;  possibly 
a  few  new  bergs  were  in  view  eastward,  but  about 
these  there  was  little  remarkable.  From  the  crow's 
nest  on  the  ship,  we  could  count  sixty-four  ice- 
bergs, and  the  view  in  general  was  similar  to  that 
which  now  spread  out  before  us.  The  top  of  the 
berg  had  a  gentle  inclination  westward ;  its  surface 
was  generally  flat,  excepting  here  and  there  the  line 
of  a  crevasse  filled  by  re-congelation.  We  came 
back  over  the  same  path  on  ski,  which  we  had  used 
on  the  top,  and  for  the  first  two  miles  we  had  no 
serious  trouble.  The  ice  had  remained  the  same, 
but  at  this  point  there  had  been  much  commotion. 
The  easterly  wind  had  gone  down,  and  the  ice  im- 

384 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

mediately  began  to  separate,  and  thus  in  the  few 
hours  occupied  by  our  ascent  onto  the  iceberg  the 
entire  topography  of  this  part  of  the  pack  had 
changed.  Huge  lakes  had  formed,  and  a  dense  fog 
shut  off  our  way.  With  the  compass  we  sought 
points  of  each  floe  where  they  touched  others,  and 
thus  we  worked  until  4  a.m.,  when  we  reached  the 
ship  with  photos  of  the  berg,  and  the  head  of  the 
leopard  as  a  trophy.  The  work  and  the  resulting 
fatigue  had  been  so  great  that  Tollefsen,  who  had 
joined  us  at  the  last  moment  of  our  departure, 
fainted  twice  after  he  reached  the  ship.  Poor  fel- 
low !  his  brain  has  for  a  long  time  been  unsteady 
as  a  result  of  the  unbroken  daylight  and  hopeless 
isolation.  We  thought  this  jaunt  would  do  him 
good,  but  it  has  had  a  contrary  effect,  for  his  mind  is 
now  permanently  deranged. 

December  25. —  Christmas  in  midsummer  is  cer- 
tainly an  anomaly  to  residents  of  the  northern 
hemisphere,  but  our  midsummer  is  more  sterile  than 
the  midwinter  of  any  known  spot  on  the  globe.  At 
home  there  may  be  snow  and  wind,  but  there  is  at 
hand  the  companionship  of  warm  friends,  the  cheer 
of  a  bright  fire,  the  charm  of  flowers  and  pretty 
things ;  but  what  have  we  in  place  of  this  accus- 
tomed holiday  gayety  ?  Each  man  has,  among  the 
Belgicas  company,  his  special  corps  of  chums,  and 
brotherly  distress  has  strengthened  these  bonds,  but 
there  are  no  other  human  souls  within  reach  to  enter 
our  narrow  circle  of  life  with  new  inspirations.  We 
have  long  since  worn  out  all  social  enthusiasm,  and 
can  unearth  nothing  new  to  infuse  fresh  life  into  the 

385 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

desired  good  cheer  of  our  Christmas  dinner.  In- 
side then,  there  is  nothing  new,  while  outside  all  is 
cold  and  white  and  wearisome.  There  is  no  flower- 
ing-plant within  thousands  of  miles,  and  no  land, 
not  even  barren  rocks,  within  hundreds  of  miles. 
At  dinner  we  drank  to  the  health  of  "  King  Leo- 
pold," to  the  pleasure  of  ''  Queen  Wilhelmina,"  to 
the  continued  success  of  the  expedition,  and  every- 
body expressed  a  hope  of  an  early  release  from  our 
ice-imprisonment.  Altogether,  I  noticed  that  the 
enthusiasm  was  forced.  At  heart  we  were  not  in 
a  feasting  mood,  and  the  doubt  of  our  future  was 
pictured  on  every  face. 

We  have  now  been  nearly  a  year  in  this  hopeless 
desert  of  ice.  Everything  seems  solid  and  immova- 
ble. We  seem  to  be  frozen  to  the  earth,  for  there  is 
nothing  which  indicates  movement.  But  with  all 
this  appearance  of  solidity  we  are  in  reality  continu- 
ally afloat,  adrift  with  the  polar  winds,  on  a  peren- 
nial ice-sheeted  sea.  How  we  long  to  put  our  feet 
on  solid  ground !  We  do  not  desire  so  greatly  to 
see  trees,  and  plants,  and  flowers  as  we  do  to  s^'" 
upon  something  immovable ;  something  not  covered 
with  this  eternal  whiteness,  and  not  glittering  with 
a  dazzling  iceblink  —  plain  ground  and  bare  rocks 
will  satisfy  us. 

January  i. — New  Year's  Day  passed  like  Christ- 
mas, with  a  special  feast  followed  by  anxious  discus- 
sions as  to  the  time  of  our  prospective  liberation. 
We  are  now  doing  much  travelling  over  the  pack- 
ice,  studying  the  life  and  the  ice-changes.  The  Be/- 
gica  is  about  ready  for  the  sea,  so  far  as  her  internal 

386 


ANTARCTIC   NIGHT 

arrangement  Is  concerned,  but  outside  there  is  noth- 
ing which  promises  a  disruption  of  the  ice  in  such  a 
manner  as  to  permit  us  to  push  out  of  it.  The  field, 
in  which  the  bark  is  held,  is  still  about  two  miles  in 
diameter.  The  sun  has  reached  its  highest  altitude 
and  is  sliding  down  the  hillside  of  winter.  We  can- 
not hope  that  the  fading  days  of  summer  will  bring 
us  relief,  since  the  bright  days  of  November  and  De- 
cember were  of  so  little  avail  in  breaking  the  ice. 

In  October  and  November  the  ice  separated,  leav- 
ing wide  open  leads,  often  a  mile  in  width,  winding 
around  the  floes  to  the  end  of  vision.  If  we  had 
been  free  at  this  time,  we  might  have  gone  farther 
south  or  north  to  the  open  sea  in  a  short  time,  for 
we  were  then  only  about  two  thousand  feet  from  a 
lead  of  navigable  water.  We  are  not  now  any 
closer,  but  the  entire  pack  has  changed  since  then. 
Around  the  bergs  the  ice  is  broken  into  small  pans. 
There  are  a  few  fields  about  two  miles  in  diameter, 
but  the  main  body  of  the  pack  is  made  up  of  floes 
less  than  a  half  mile  in  diameter  and  with  an  average 
^hickness  of  six  feet.  This  smallness  of  the  floes  pre- 
vents severe  pressure,  but  it  gives  the  pack  a  sort 
of  elasticity  which  opposes  the  formation  of  wide 
open  leads  necessary  for  navigation.  We  no  longer 
see  the  great  zones  of  tempting  sea,  but  instead, 
only  small  lanes  along  the  edge  of  the  large  fields. 
If,  however,  we  were  able  to  get  i  to  these  we  might 
take  advantage  with  every  shift  jf  the  ice  to  force 
our  way  into  more  favourable  locr  lities. 

Since  Christmas  the  weather  I  is  already  become 
colder.      New  ice  is  forming  eve  y  night,  but  early 

387 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

in  the  morning  this  thaws  again  and  the  snow  of  the 
pack  is  mehing  rapidly  ;  the  soHd  ice  seems  to  lose 
little  of  its  thickness,  though  it  is  becoming  more 
porous  and  is  more  easily  disrupted.  By  a  series  of 
holes  drilled  by  Mr.  Arctowski,  he  finds  the  general 
thickness  to  be  2.60  metres.  This  is  nearly  the  same 
as  I  found  it  to  be  two  months  ago ;  from  twenty-five 
measurements  along  fresh  cracks  it  was  2.65.  To- 
day there  are  many  signs  of  pack  movement,  but  for 
three  weeks  with  the  steady  easterly  winds  we  have 
moved  south-westerly,  holding  the  same  relative  po- 
sition with  our  neighbouring  icebergs.  A  sudden 
brisk  westerly  wind  is  sending  us  east  and  north 
rapidly.  This  wind  does  a  triple  service.  It  sends 
us  north,  it  loosens  the  pack,  and  it  breaks  the  fioes. 
It  is  indeed  a  godsend  so  early  in  the  new  year,  for 
we  are  already  half  expecting  a  prolonged  ice-im- 
prisonment through  another  year,  and  if  for  another 
year,  perhaps  for  much  longer. 

At  midnight  we,  of  the  cabin,  went  forward  to  sur- 
prise the  crew.  We  took  with  us  a  liberal  allowance 
of  wine,  also  an  abundance  of  cheese,  ham,  and 
biscuits  for  a  lunch.  The  sailors  received  us  with 
song  and  music,  and  then  told  us  stories  which  were 
new  to  us,  but  had  been  told  a  hundred  times  in  the 
forecastle.  We  in  return  did  some  speech-making, 
and  a  little  story-telling,  too.  The  meeting  was  cer- 
tainly a  success  as  an  entertainment,  and  though  the 
music  was  limited  to  accordions  which,  from  the  com- 
bined effects  of  cold,  humidity,  and  rough  usage,  had 
many  defects,  we  sat  and  listened  to  the  discordant 
notes  with  real  enjoyment. 

388 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

Outside,  the  scene  was  beautiful,  the  sun  was  in 
the  south,  low  on  the  horizon,  spreading  golden  rays 
over  thin  stratus  clouds  to  the  zenith.  In  the  north 
the  moon  was  high,  and  though  somewhat  paled  by 
the  sun  it  was  bright,  and  stood  out  in  the  cold,  cloud- 
less blue  like  a  ball  of  lustreless  silver.  The  endless 
sea  of  ice  under  us  was  ridged  by  a  line  of  pressure, 
at  right  angles  to  the  line  of  force,  which  was  from 
south-west  to  north-east,  and  separated  by  inky  lanes 
of  water  parallel  to  the  lines.  The  entire  ice  was 
a  mass  of  quivering  blue.  It  was  thus  midnight  and 
midsummer,  and  New  Year's  Day,  and  to  this  series 
of  strange  contradictions  we  owe  the  peculiar  phe- 
nomenon of  seeing  both  the  sun  and  the  moon  at 
the  same  time,  and  that  at  a  nocturnal  scene. 


389 


CHAPTER   XXIX 

FREED   FROM  THE   ICE-EMBRACES  — 
RETURN   TO    CIVILISATION 

January  5. — We  are  satisfied  with  the  success  of 
our  mission  to  the  present.  We  should  like  to  ter- 
minate our  campaign  with  a  striking  sweep  of  dis- 
coveries, such  as  marked  our  beginning  last  year, 
but  such  a  hope  is  now  quite  beyond  the  range  of 
possibility.  Our  provisions  are  nearly  all  used,  and 
to  penetrate  again  into  another  part  of  this  ice- 
strewn  sea,  with  our  present  equipment,  would  be 
injudicious.  We  are  inclined  to  bundle  our  results, 
and  quit  the  under-world  of  ice  as  soon  as  the  ice 
breaks  enough  to  give  us  freedom. 

Indeed,  we  ought  to  be  contented  with  the  un- 
paralleled series  of  scientific  records  which  are  now 
written  in  our  journals.  Beginning  with  Tierra  del 
Fuego,  we  have  secured  ethnological  data  of  a  race 
of  primitive  people,  scientifically  unknown ;  there 
we  have  also  read  the  story  of  two  vanishing  Amer- 
ican races ;  while  the  naturalist  and  geologist  have 
worked  out  facts  and  gathered  specimens  unique  in 
value  and  usefulness.  We  have  sounded  the  un- 
known seas  between  the  terminating  point  of  South 

390 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

America  and  the  antarctic  land.  In  the  new  regions 
south  of  Cape  Horn  we  have  discovered  many 
islands,  and  several  hundred  miles  of  the  coast  of  a 
great  country.  Passing  into  the  pack-ice  we  have 
drifted  thousands  of  miles  over  the  bed  of  a  virgin 
sea;  have  discovered  a  great  submarine  bank,  and 
have  collected  skeletons  and  skins  of  a  curious  life, 
previously  almost  unknown.  Racovitza  has  hun- 
dreds of  bottles  of  odd-looking  specimens  of  creat- 
ures in  alcohol,  and  his  notes  record,  for  the  first  time, 
the  life  story  of  antarctic  fauna  throughout  the  year. 
Arctowski  has  a  record  of  hourly  meteorological 
observations  taken  systematically,  night  and  day, 
during  one  year.  This,  too,  is  a  valuable  record, 
for  previously  we  have  had  only  a  few  short  notes 
on  the  climate  of  the  summer  months  of  the  antarc- 
tic. Lecointe  has  made  a  painstaking  series  of 
magnetic  observations,  which  will  be  useful  in  mak- 
ing valuable  deductions  for  the  compass,  in  the 
southern  hemisphere.  There  are  many  studies  val- 
uable to  oceanographic  sciences,  and  our  examina- 
tion of  a  part  of  the  great  restless  sea  of  ice,  which 
encircles  the  pole,  will  be  the  basis  of  all  future  work 
in  this  region.  We  shall  emerge  from  an  area  of 
perennial  winter,  never  before  invaded  by  man,  with 
the  knowledge  of  having  been  the  first  of  all  human 
beings  to  pass  through  the  south  polar  winter  and 
its  long  night.  We  feel,  one  and  all,  that  our  mis- 
sion has  been  accomplished,  and  we  are  waiting 
impatiently  to  be  freed  from  this  embrace  of  the 
frozen  sea. 

January  9. —  From  the  first  to  the  ninth  there  was 

391 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

little  of  interest  aside  from  the  usual  run  of  life.  We 
took  a  few  Ross  seals  {Ommatophoca  Rossi),  saw  two 
new  birds,  but  did  not  secure  them,  and  were  gener- 
ally busy  preparing  the  ship  for  the  home  voyage. 
We  have  had  a  continuous  southerly  wind,  but  its 
force  was  so  light  that  we  drifted  little,  though  our 
sounding  yesterday  was  1490  m.,  which  we  take  as 
an  encouragement  of  a  northerly  movement  off  of 
the  shallow  sea  over  which  we  have  floated  so  long. 
The  bergs  continue  to  change  positions,  but  our  pan, 
which  is  a  little  over  two  miles  in  diameter,  is  the 
same  as  it  was  two  months  ago,  except  that  the  snow 
has  melted  to  an  average  thickness  of  about  a  half 
metre.  Because  our  floe  has  not  changed  its  form 
or  shown  any  signs  of  disruption  since  November 
first,  and  also  because  we  have  had  no  ice-destroy- 
ing tempest  since  that  time,  we  have  no  good  reason 
to  suppose  that  we  shall  have  a  storm,  or  that  our 
floe  will  fracture  in  a  line  to  liberate  us  during  the 
remaining  two  months  of  possible  navigation. 

There  is  at  present  sufficient  water  in  long  leads 
to  navigate,  and  to  reach  this  is  the  ambition  of  all 
on  board,  from  the  Commandant  to  the  cabin-boy. 
But  thus  far  we  have  done  nothing  to  liberate  the 
ship.  It  is  true,  our  men  have  had  more  than  suffi- 
cient work  to  prepare  the  sleeping  Belgica  for  the 
sea,  but  for  this  they  will  have  sufficient  time  during 
the  many  days  when  we  shall  be  pressing  out  of  the 
pack.  If  we  do  not  help  ourselves,  as  matters  go 
now  there  is  a  great  possibility  of  wintering  again 
in  the  pack.  To  do  something  in  this  direction,  I 
submitted,  yesterday,  a  plan  to  the   Commandant. 

392 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

It  is  based  on  the  fact  that  the  sun  acts  much  more 
powerfully  upon  water,  and  upon  everything  else  of 
a  dark  colour,  than  upon  snow.  Keeping  this  in 
mind,  my  suggestion  involves  the  digging  ot  two 
trenches,  one  from  the  bow,  the  other  from  the 
stern  to  the  water,  at  the  edge  of  the  Belgica  field. 
These  trenches  are  to  be  carried  through  the  snow 
and  the  superficial  fresh  water  sheet  of  ice,  leaving 
a  narrow  current  of  water  from  the  ship  to  the  lead, 
which  we  hope  by  the  aid  of  the  sun  will  so  weaken 
the  ice  in  this  direction  that  it  may  break  in  this 
line.  Otherwise  it  might  fracture,  if  it  fractured  at 
all,  a  mile  to  the  other  side  of  us,  and  then  our  po- 
sition would  be  no  better  than  it  is  now. 

January  12. — -We  have  finished  the  trenches.  For 
three  days  we  have  worked,  not  like  men,  but  like 
dogs  in  chase  of  game.  With  picks  and  axes  and 
shovels,  we  have  excavated  the  ditches,  and  have 
hardly  taken  time  to  eat  or  sleep,  because  we  have 
been  so  eager  to  watch  the  progress  and  effect  of 
our  work.  As  the  work  is  completed,  we  find  that 
our  project  is  a  failure.  The  sun  at  midnight  is  now 
so  feeble  that  it  permits  the  formation  of  new  ice  to 
such  a  thickness  that  the  heat  of  the  following  day  is 
barely  sufficient  to  melt  it.  Had  we  done  this  in 
December,  the  result  might  have  been  more  satis- 
factory, but  now  it  is  too  late. 

With  the  cutting  of  these  trenches  I  proposed, 
as  a  last  resort,  to  cut  a  canal  through  the  ice  from 
the  Belgica  to  the  edge  of  the  field.  The  lines  for 
the  trenches  were  so  laid  that  the  saws  might  be  run 
through  the   same  groove;    in  this  way  we   hoped 

393 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

to  save  the  labour  of  twice  removing  the  upper  sheets 
of  ice  and  snow.  The  work  of  sawing  was  begun 
last  night  and  at  first  the  progress  was  encouraging. 
Upon  more  careful  examination,  however,  by  drilling, 
we  found  that  the  lines  which  we  had  laid  out  for  the 
canal,  though  shorter,  ran  over  several  submarine 
projections  of  ice  from  fifteen  to  twenty- five  feet 
thick.  We  had  learned  by  this  time  that  with  the 
saws  it  is  nearly  impossible  to  cut  ice  more  than 
seven  feet  in  depth.  We  now  began  renewed  ex- 
periments with  tonite,  an  explosive  said  to  be  more 
powerful  than  dynamite  and  much  safer.  It  certainly 
is  decidedly  safer,  but  we  were  unable  to  discover 
its  power. 

Two  months  ago  we  all  had  faith  in  tonite.  We 
had  on  board  a  large  supply,  and  believed  that  with 
it  we  could  blow  the  Belgicas  ice-fetters  to  atoms. 
Our  confidence  was  much  shaken  with  the  early  ex- 
periments. In  the  first  trial  we  were  afraid  of  the 
stuff.  We  handled  it  with  the  greatest  care,  placed 
it  cautiously  on  a  sledge,  and  drew  it  with  a  long 
rope.  We  selected  a  spot  nearly  two  miles  from  the 
Belgica  for  the  first  explosion.  At  the  time  of  this 
experiment  the  bark  was  not  yet  ready  for  the  sea, 
and  we  thought  it  not  wise  to  break  the  ice  in  close 
proximity.  We  also  feared  the  "■  great  power  "  of 
the  tonite,  and  thought  the  whole  field  would  be 
broken  and  scattered  in  the  air,  only  to  fall  down 
and  smash  the  decks,  but  all  of  this  faith  in,  and  fear 
of  tonite  changed  upon  a  more  intimate  acquain- 
tance with  the  stuff.  We  are  now  amused  at  our 
extraordinary  precautions   during  the  first  experi- 

394 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

ments.  We  took  the  tonite  far  away,  put  to  it  long 
fuses  to  permit  us  to  run  off  a  great  distance  out 
of  the  reach  of  the  expected  shattered  fragments. 
The  explosion  went  off  with  a  hiss  and  a  great  fire, 
but  in  the  air  there  was  only  smoke,  and  under  the 
explosion  there  was  only  soot  and  a  concavity  in  the 
snow.  There  was  nothing  broken,  not  even  a  hole 
through  the  ice,  and  we  stood  a  half  mile  away  be- 
hind a  hummock,  shivering  for  fear  the  ice  would  be 
so  broken  that  we  could  not  return  to  the  Belgica. 
In  later  experiments  we  were  more  bold,  and  brought 
the  scene  of  action  nearer  the  ship,  but  we  found  that 
in  temperatures  lower  than  — io°  C.  (14.0°  F.)  the 
tonite  exploded  feebly,  so  much  so,  indeed,  that  the 
engineer,  seeing  the  beautiful  fire  it  made,  vowed 
he  would  get  better  service  by  using  it  to  get  up 
steam.  Most  of  us  have  lost  faith  in  the  power  of 
tonite  to  release  the  Belgica^  and  we  have  also  lost 
faith  in  its  power  to  do  damage  of  any  kind.  In- 
stead of  handling  it  with  the  extreme  care  of  a  few 
months  ago,  we  now  have  it  in  our  beds,  on  the 
table,  and  in  every  corner  of  the  cabin.  Lecointe 
and  Racovitza,  however,  still  have  some  confidence 
in  the  destructive  powers  of  the  explosive,  and  be- 
fore we  begin  the  seemingly  impossible  task  of  saw- 
ing a  canal  it  is  important  to  determine  the  limits  of 
tonite  in  breaking  the  ice. 

A  number  of  experiments  were  made  yesterday 
and  to-day,  but  the  consensus  of  opinion  is  that 
tonite  will  "  cut  no  ice."  If  we  are  to  get  freedom, 
we  must  seek  it  by  our  own  muscular  efforts  with 
the  saw  and  the  axe.     We  have  argued  for  several 

395 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

days  in  favour  of  sawing  a  canal.  To  this  there  has 
been  considerable  opposition,  based  upon  the  fact  that 
the  entire  working  force  could  not  be  spared  for  such 
work,  and  that  the  suggestion,  at  best,  gave  little 
promise  of  success.  The  sawing  experiments  in  the 
trenches,  however,  proved  that  much  could  be  done, 
and  the  eagerness  of  the  men  assured  a  concerted 
effort  if  the  plan  could  be  made  the  one  aim  of  every- 
body. The  repeated  failure  of  the  tonite  proved 
that  a  continuation  of  our  work  in  the  old  trenches 
was  unwise,  because  ice  of  more  than  seven  feet  was 
impregnable  to  us.  Gerlache  has  suggested  the 
sawing  of  an  old  lead  over  the  stern  which  might 
prove  less  obstructed  by  hummocks.  A  vigilant 
sounding  of  this  lead  proved  the  general  depth  of 
the  ice  about  five  feet,  but  the  distance  was  some- 
what greater  than  the  line  of  our  trenches.  A  care- 
ful study  of  all  other  possible  routes  easily  proved 
this  the  most  practical.  The  plans  were  then  made 
as  cautiously  as  if  we  were  to  dig  the  Nicaragua 
Canal,  and  every  contingency  was  vigorously  dis- 
cussed by  the  officers.  When  the  project  was  once 
thoroughly  developed  we  divided  into  three  or  four 
crews  according  to  the  work,  and  every  man,  from 
the  highest  officer  to  the  cabin-boy,  took  to  the  saws 
and  the  axes. 

The  work  on  this  canal  was  begun  on  the  evening 
of  January  eleventh,  and  was  continued  night  and 
day  until  the  bark  was  released.  The  distance  of 
the  canal  was  about  2200  feet.  The  sawing  of  the 
two  sides  with  the  cross  sections  made  the  distance 
to  be  cut,  in  a  straight  line,  something  over  a  mile 

396 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

and  a  half.  We  were  able  to  remove  the  upper 
sheets  of  ice  and  snow  by  shovels  and  picks  and 
specially  constructed  implements  to  the  depth  of 
from  one  to  two  feet.  This  left  solid  ice  from  three 
to  four  feet  thick  to  be  cut  by  the  saws.  We  kept 
at  it  day  after  day,  working  eight  hours  daily,  as  do 
day  labourers.  No  men  ever  worked  harder  or  more 
faithfully.  We  were  sixteen  in  number,  officers  and 
sailors  working  side  by  side,  with  no  easy  berth  for 
anybody.  Our  main  food  supply  was  only  sufficient 
to  last  three  months  longer.  We  were  accordingly 
put  on  reduced  rations,  but  we  had  a  plentiful  sup- 
ply of  seal  and  penguin  meat  and  were  adding  to 
the  larder  every  day  the  game  coming  into  our  new 
canal.  We  ate  ravenously,  and  were  contented 
with  the  fishy  penguin  steaks,  developing  strength 
and  enthusiasm  with  the  increased  length  of  the 
canal. 

January  23. — We  are  still  hard  at  work  at  the 
channel  for  the  release  of  the  Belgica.  Every  man  is 
still  putting  in  eight  hours  daily  on  the  work  except 
the  cook,  and  he  is  working  twenty  hours  a  day  in 
doing  his  own  work  and  that  of  the  cabin-boy  and 
steward.  The  work  is  proceeding  nobly,  so  quickly 
and  so  perfectly  as  to  surpass  all  expectation.  This 
can  only  be  explained  by  the  cheerful  manner  and 
manly  vigour  with  which  every  man  is  at  work.  The 
men  need  no  urging,  no  special  direction,  no  super- 
intendence. Given  a  plan  and  system  of  action,  they 
arrange  themselves  and  work  with  an  effort  almost 
superhuman.  The  Commandant,  the  captain,  the 
first  officer,  the  meteorologist,  zoologist,  and  the  doc- 

397 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

tor  are  all  shoulder  to  shoulder  with  the  sailors,  and 
occupied  at  the  same  work.  The  meteorologist  says, 
**  There  simply  exists  no  longer  a  Commandant,  no 
captain,  no  officers.    We  are  all  ordinary  workmen." 

I  have  had  little  time  to  write  for  one  week. 
Eight  hours  daily  with  a  heavy  saw,  and  the  spine 
twisted  semi-circularly,  is  not  conducive  to  literary 
ambitions.  It  is,  however,  a  capital  exercise.  Every- 
body is  being  hardened  to  the  work  and  developing 
ponderous  muscles.  Our  skin  is  burnt  until  it  has 
the  appearance  of  the  inner  surface  of  boot  leather. 
Our  hands,  we  have  found  by  experience,  are  more 
comfortable  if  not  washed,  especially  with  soap,  be- 
cause then  they  crack  and  become  painful.  The 
result  is  that  we  all  have  a  more  savage  physical 
appearance  than  most  Indians.  But  this  is  of  little 
consequence  to  us.  There  are  no  ladies  here  to 
arouse  the  sleeping  vanity  which  we  all  once  pos- 
sessed, and  our  one  ambition  is  to  free  the  ship. 
This  now  seems  quite  certain.  We  eat  like  bears 
the  meat  of  seals  and  penguins  twice  daily,  dis- 
posing of  three,  four,  and  five  steaks  each.  We  find 
time  and  gastric  capacity  for  no  less  than  seven 
meals  daily.  All  work  was  stopped  Sunday  morn- 
ing at  4  A.M.,  and  it  began  again  Monday,  at  8  a.m.; 
during  that  time  we  slept  no  less  than  thirty-six 
hours,  and  twelve  hours  is  about  an  average  of  our 
daily  sleep  with  the  channel  work.  Before  the  canal 
was  begun  we  could  barely  sleep  eight  hours. 

By  the  first  of  February  we  had  extended  our 
canal  to  within  one  hundred  feet  of  the  Belgica,  but 
the  ice  which   remained  to  be  cut  was  from  six  to 

39B 


ANTARCTIC  NIGHT 

seven  feet  in  depth,  and  of  a  consistency  so  hard  that 
the  saws  barely  made  an  impression  upon  it.  In  one 
spot  we  sawed  eight  hours  and  cut  less  than  five 
feet.  While  we  were  busily  occupied  in  devising 
new  plans  to  cut  this  ice,  the  wind  changed  and 
altered  the  drift  of  the  ice,  bringing  a  strong  pres- 
sure on  a  tongue  of  the  floe,  which  caused  a  fracture 
contiguous  to  our  canal,  around  the  bark  and  through 
the  remaining  ice  to  the  edge.  This  new  crevasse 
opened,  and  in  so  doing,  the  new  floe  drifted,  partly 
closing  our  canal.  This  sudden  and  unexpected 
change,  before  our  canal  was  completed,  brought  a 
look  of  disappointment  and  despair  to  every  face. 
Now  our  prospective  way  of  retreat  was  not  only 
useless,  but  our  position  was  such  that  the  Belgica 
was  subjected  to  dangerous  pressure.  To  relieve 
this  pressure  we  cut  an  oblong  concavity  in  the 
body  of  the  main  floe  with  the  idea  of  taking  the 
vessel  to  this  as  a  harbour.  In  this  effort  we  suc- 
ceeded on  the  evening  of  the  thirteenth,  but  our 
canal  was  so  effectually  closed  by  new  ice  and  the 
pressure  of  neighbouring  floes,  that  we  could  not 
escape.  On  the  morning  of  the  fourteenth,  the  wind 
again  changed.  There  was  a  general  expansion  of 
the  pack,  leaving  wide  open  leads  on  all  sides,  and 
our  canal  again  widened.  We  lost  no  time  in  steam- 
ing out.  No  body  of  men  were  ever  happier  than 
the  officers  and  crew  of  the  Belgica  as  the  good  old 
ship  thumped  the  edge  of  the  ice  which  had  held  her 
a  prisoner  for  nearly  a  year. 

Our  supply  of  provisions  did  not  permit  a  contin- 
uation of  the  campaign,  and  after  all  our  mission  was 

399 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

about  fulfilled.  Accordingly  we  headed  northward 
in  the  most  direct  manner  for  the  open  sea.  In  two 
days  we  pushed,  through  closely  packed  ice,  twenty 
miles  northward,  and  then  we  entered  a  zone  of  the 
pack  where  the  ice  was  broken  into  small  pieces  and 
closely  pressed  by  an  almost  continuous  line  of  ice- 
bergs. Beyond  the  bergs  there  was  a  dark  blue- 
black  sky  which,  after  a  time,  we  recognised  as  a 
water  sky,  indicating  that  under  it  there  was  the 
open  ice-free  Pacific.  Here,  within  sight  of  the  open 
sea,  we  were  again  imprisoned  by  the  closely  packed 
ice  for  thirty  days,  but  at  last,  when  we  had  almost 
abandoned  all  hope  of  escape  and  were  preparing 
for  work  during  a  second  winter  night,  a  gentle 
southerly  wind  drove  us  with  the  sea  ice  out  beyond 
the  line  of  icebergs,  and  then  we  were  free  to  seek 
the  world  of  life  in  our  own  way.  We  left  the  pack- 
ice  in  latitude  70°  45'  south,  longitude  103°  west, 
and  then  headed  for  Cape  Horn. 

At  last  we  feel  again  the  pleasure  of  being  out  of 
the  frigid  stillness  and  on  the  bound  of  the  broad 
ice-free  waters.  We  have  left  the  white  line  of  the 
pack-ice  under  the  black  sea  behind  us,  and  now  the 
ever-present  electric  glimmer,  the  iceblink,  is  fading 
over  our  stern.  As  the  blink  vanishes,  and  the  sky 
is  screened  by  the  normal  South  Pacific  dulness, 
we  descend  from  our  world  of  lofty  thoughts,  in 
which  we  had  been  raised  and  upheld  by  the  long 
months  of  isolation,  and  frost,  and  storm ;  and  with 
this  descent  our  minds  and  our  hearts  are  set  on  the 
joys  of  home-going.  The  feeling  of  isolation  and 
desertion  now  comes  over  us  stronger  than  ever  be- 

400 


ANTARCTIC   NIGHT 

fore.  There  is  still  a  long  spread  of  tempestuous 
waters  between  us  and  Punta  Arenas,  the  nearest 
outpost  of  civilisation,  and  as  we  plough  this  hope- 
less sea,  with  souls  raised  to  a  fever-heat  of  antici- 
pation, our  old  winged  companions  in  the  long  drift 
with  the  frozen  sea  leave  us.  While  among  them, 
we  thought  we  were  wearied  of  their  songless  poses 
on  the  icy  spires,  and  of  their  noiseless  flights.  We 
believed  that  we  had  seen  all  of  their  cold  white 
world  that  we  ever  desired,  but  even  before  we  have 
felt  the  heat  of  the  sunny  inner  zones  we  are  half 
sorry  to  leave  this  weird  other- world  life.  A  year 
hence,  I  am  sure  we  shall  all  long  to  return  again  to 
this  death-like  sleep  of  the  snowy  southern  wilder- 
ness ;  but  just  at  present  we  long,  as  no  tongue  can 
tell,  for  the  kindly  breast  of  Mother  Earth,  with  her 
soul-stirring  warmth,  her  running  streams,  her  sweet- 
smelling  flowers,  and  her  air  of  colour,  of  perfume, 
and  of  pleasant  musical  sounds. 

On  the  morning  of  March  28,  1899,  we  steamed 
into  the  port  of  Punta  Arenas.  After  a  fifteen  months* 
absence  from  civilisation  the  new  delights  which  we 
saw  around  this  end-of-the-world  town  were  surpris- 
ing. We  noticed  with  considerable  interest  the  worn 
roads  snaking  through  grassy  fields,  around  groups 
of  trees  to  the  summits  of  green  hills.  Behind  us 
were  the  olive  and  purple  waters  of  Magellan  Strait. 
The  harsh  Cape  Horn  winds,  which  blew  over  the 
forest-covered  lands,  seemed  soft  to  us  ;  to  our  frozen 
perceptions  the  sweets  which  these  winds  brought 
seemed  to  combine  into  one  joyous  perfume. 

Little  time  was  lost  in  seeking  the  shore.     We 

401 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

were  hungry  for  home  news,  and  anxious  to  tread 
on  soHd  ground.  The  sensation  of  having  real  earth 
under  our  feet  was  new  to  us.  For  more  than  a 
year  we  had  roamed  about  over  the  moving  frozen 
waters  of  the  antarctic  sea,  with  no  sight  of  land,  and 
no  feeling  of  stability.  When  we  mount  the  first 
hill  we  shall  sit  down  and  watch  and  wait  to  see  if 
it,  too,  does  not  move  like  the  hills  of  ice  upon  which 
we  have  rested  so  long.  We  landed  quietly,  and 
almost  unnoticed ;  there  was  no  crowd,  no  tooting 
of  whistles,  and  no  display  of  bunting  as  we  passed 
over  the  long  iron  pier.  In  Patagonia  nothing  short 
of  a  volcanic  eruption  creates  an  uproar,  which  was 
to  our  liking,  for  we  hated  excitement  and  display 
and  much  desired  to  spend  our  time  as  it  best  suited 
our  inclinations.  A  few  of  the  sailors  who  came 
ashore  remained  on  the  beach,  kicked  about  in  the 
sand,  and  tossed  pebbles.  So  much  were  they  in- 
terested in  this  first  touch  of  solid  ground  that  they 
continued  to  play  in  the  sand  for  hours,  with  the 
delight  of  children  at  the  seashore.  The  officers 
marched  straightway  to  a  hotel,  but  in  getting  there 
they  were  made  to  feel  their  own  previously  unno- 
ticed awkwardness.  It  is  a  sad  undertaking  for  one 
endowed  with  a  graceful  walk  to  engage  in  polar  ex- 
ploration. I  do  not  know  whether  any  one  on  the 
Belgica  ever  boasted  of  such  an  accomplishment, 
but  I  do  know  that  our  walking  attitudes,  as  we 
strolled  up  these  streets,  were  a  study  in  alcoholism. 
We  had  travelled  on  skis  and  other  snowshoes  so 
long,  and  had  been  tossed  about  on  the  sea  so 
much,  that  we  had  forgotten  how  to  walk  normally. 

402 


ANTARCTIC   NIGHT 

We  spread  our  legs,  dragged  our  feet,  braced  and 
balanced  our  bodies  with  every  step,  and  altogether 
our  gait  was  ridiculous.  It  may  all  be  imagination, 
but  we  felt  unnatural,  as,  indeed,  we  must  have 
looked. 

We  had  hardly  learned  to  realise  this  ourselves 
when  we  got  a  glimpse,  for  the  first  time  in  many 
long  months,  of  a  woman.  She  simply  stood  and 
stared  at  us,  and  we  at  her,  and  then  she  gathered 
up  a  couple  of  youngsters  nearby  and  rushed  away 
from  us  into  the  house,  as  if  we  were  dangerous 
characters.  Morally  hurt  by  this  incident  we  went 
along  taking  some  notice  of  the  men  who  eyed  us 
with  considerable  interest.  Presently  we  passed  a 
door  in  which  two  pretty  girls  were  standing.  This 
sight  sent  a  new  sensation  through  us  like  that  of 
a  Faradic  battery.  Somehow  we  all,  at  the  same 
time,  unconsciously  brushed  aside  the  year's  growth 
of  hair  from  our  faces,  and  made  an  effort  to  arrange 
our  neckties  and  change  the  set  of  our  coats,  but 
we  were  made  to  realise,  more  and  more,  that  we 
looked  hideous.  The  girls  gave  a  sudden  giggle, 
rushed  back  into  the  hall,  and  we  had  to  content 
ourselves  with  the  rustle  of  skirts.  This  rustle  of 
the  skirts  of  these  first  girls  who  warmed  our  frozen 
hearts  would  make  spicy  poetry  if  we  dared  to  write 
it.  But  we  are  not  poets :  we  must  hasten  on  to 
the  hotel  where  we  hope  quickly  to  change  our 
freak-like  appearances. 

At  the  hotel  we  soon  learned  something  of  the 
events  which  had  occurred  during  our  absence,  but 
we  were  able  to  get  very  little  connected  news.     The 

403 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

Spanish-American  War  and  the  Dreyfus  Case,  of 
which  we  knew  nothing,  were  explained  to  us.  We 
next  tried  to  get  a  hasty  gHmpse  of  the  newspapers, 
but  the  fifteen  months  previous  being  a  blank  to 
us,  we  were  unable  to  read  the  papers  with  any 
idea  of  assimilation.  It  was  impossible  for  us  to 
understand  the  short  daily  announcements  until  we 
were  able  to  get  a  general  idea  of  the  drift  of  the 
previous  events,  and  this  we  knew  would  take  long. 
We  next  returned  to  our  rooms  and  began  to  scru- 
tinise ourselves  in  the  mirrors,  to  learn  the  reason 
why  mothers  guarded  their  youngsters,  and  girls 
ran  away  as  we  came  along  the  streets. 

We  presented  curious  and  funny  physiognomies. 
Our  faces  were  drawn,  and  but  a  shade  lighter  than 
old  copper  kettles ;  our  skins  were  rough,  like  nut- 
meg-graters ;  and  our  hair  was  long,  stubborn, 
and  liberally  lined  by  bunches  of  gray,  though  the 
eldest  among  us  was  less  than  thirty-five  years  of 
age.  Our  clothing  was  in  a  good  state  of  repair, 
but  its  appearance  was  odd.  We  had  been  short  of 
patching  material,  hence  pieces  of  leather,  bits  of 
canvas,  and  strips  of  carpet  were  used  to  cover  the 
tears  and  to  reinforce  the  weak  parts  of  our  coats 
and  trousers.  We  were  ourselves  so  used  to  all  of 
this  that  we  did  not  think  it  strange ;  but  when  we 
heard  the  rustle  of  skirts  it  brought  our  sleeping 
vanity  all  back.  Henceforth  we  must  again  wear 
boiled  shirts  and  bright  feathers.  We  soon  brought 
in  the  barber,  who  made  for  us  new  faces,  and  the 
tailor,  who  fitted  us  with  presentable  up-to-date  out- 
fits. While  this  was  being  done  the  mail  was 
brought,  and  at  once  each  took  a  bundle  and  wan- 

404 


ANTARCTIC   NIGHT 

dered  to  some  corner.  These  were  moments  of 
sentiment.  Business  letters,  cheques,  drafts,  papers, 
and,  indeed,  the  bulk  of  correspondence  was  put 
aside,  and  each  had  soon  in  hand  a  series  of  sheets 
with  feminine  inscriptions,  in  which  all  interest  for 
the  time  was  centred.  Racovitza  said :  "  What 
means  it  all?  Surely  the  indications  are  that  in  six 
months  there  will  be  as  many  new  wives  as  the 
present  number  of  bachelors  on  the  Belgica!' 

After  a  time,  however,  this  sentimental  trance 
gave  way  to  material  instincts.  We  had  ordered  a 
dinner  to  be  specially  prepared  for  us.  We  didn't 
care  for  fancy  dishes  and  desserts ;  our  appetites 
craved  plain  substantial.  We  had  fed  during  a 
year  on  "embalmed"  foods  and  meat,  tasting  like 
cod-liver  oil.  We  enjoyed  this  when  we  could  get 
nothing  better,  but  now  we  want  beefsteak,  and  a 
good  deal  of  it.  The  waiter  interrupted  our  inter- 
esting occupation  by  the  announcement  that  dinner 
was  ready.  We  all  followed  without  a  second  bid- 
ding, and  I  should  be  ashamed  to  confess  to  the 
amount  of  beefsteak  which  we  devoured. 

In  a  few  days  we  settled  down  in  the  normal 
routine  of  life.  An  opportunity  was  found  to  send 
a  cable  message  by  steamer  to  Montevideo  announc- 
ing our  discoveries  and  the  general  results  of  our 
explorations.  Most  of  us  lingered  a  few  weeks  in 
southern  South  America  to  prosecute  various 
branches  of  research,  and  then  the  scientific  staff 
sought  their  respective  homes  by  the  easiest  and 
quickest  routes,  leaving  the  Belgica  to  follow  in  her 
own  slow  way. 

It  seldom  falls  to  the  lot  of  polar  explorers  to  be 

405 


THROUGH  THE  FIRST 

made  to  feel,  as  we  have  been,  the  importance  of 
their  work  and  the  success  of  their  mission.  By  the 
honours  bestowed  upon  us  by  his  Majesty,  King 
Leopold ;  by  medals  from  the  Royal  Society  of 
Belgium,  the  Geographical  Society  of  Brussels,  and 
the  Municipality  of  Brussels,  we  are  assured  that 
our  hard  efforts  have  been  appreciated.  The  fa- 
vourable criticism  of  the  geographers  of  all  lands 
convince  us  of  what  we  had  hardly  dared  to  hope, 
that  the  expedition  was  an  entire  success.  I  am 
sure  that  I  voice  the  sentiment  ot  every  member 
of  the  expedition  when  I  say  that  in  receiving  the 
substantial  recognition  of  King  Leopold,  of  the 
various  scientific  societies,  and  above  all  of  our 
fellow-countrymen,  we  feel  that  we  have  been  re- 
warded beyond  our  deserts.  Such  appreciation  by 
knowing  critics  is  indeed  the  highest  honour  which 
falls  to  man. 


406 


APPENDICES 


Appendix    No.  I 

GENERAL    RESULTS    OF    THE    BELG1AJ\ 
ANTARCTIC    EXPEDITION 

BY 

Emile  racovitza 

Translated  by  Professor  Emile  Coulon  de  Jumonville 

A  GREAT  many  parts  of  our  globe  are  yet  unexplored 
or  imperfectly  known.  Among  these  regions  the  antarctic 
is  certainly  the  largest  and  the  least  known,  but  not  the 
least  important. 

The  solution  of  the  numerous  questions  connected  with 
atmospheric  circulation  and  oceanic  waters,  the  biology 
of  aquatic  animals  and  the  geographical  distribution  of 
living  species,  depends  upon  the  progress  of  our  informa- 
tion in  that  part  of  the  globe.  The  aim  of  antarctic 
expeditions  must,  for  the  present,  be  scientific.  It  is  of 
far  less  importance  to  reach  high  latitudes  in  those  quarters 
than  to  bring  as  much  scientific  information  as  possible. 
It  was  this  idea  which  moved  Adrien  de  Gerlache,  the  pro- 
moter, organiser  and  chief  of  the  Belgian  Antarctic  Expedi- 
tion. He  consecrated  to  the  scientific  implements  an 
important  portion  of  the  feeble  resources  he  had  on  hand, 
and  surrounded  himself  with  specialists  to  whom  he  in- 
trusted the  care  of  making  scientific  observations  during 
the  voyage. 

409 


APPENDIX  No.  I 

To  Georges  Lecointe  was  intrusted  hydrography  and 
cartography;  to  Emile  Banco,  the  magnetic  observations 
and  the  pendulum — after  the  latter's  death  which  oc- 
curred in  June,  1898,  his  service  was  continued  by  Georges 
Lecointe.  The  meteorological  observations  were  made  by 
Henryk  Arctowski  and  by  Antoine  Dobrowolski.  Arctow- 
ski  also  had  charge  of  the  oceanographical  and  geological 
studies.  Frederick  A.  Cook,  the  surgeon  of  the  expedi- 
tion, took  charge  of  the  photographic  service  and  anthropo- 
logical observations.  I  was  charged  with  the  zoological 
and  botanical  observations. 

The  materials  brought  by  the  expedition  are  numerous 
in  all  their  branches,  but  their  study  will  not  be  completed 
before  two  or  three  years.  It  will  not  be  until  then  that 
we  can  ascertain  the  importance  of  the  results  obtained. 
Thanks  to  the  Belgian  Government,  a  great  pubHcation 
is  expected,  and  a  commission  has  been  chosen  to  organise 
and  direct  it. 

We  can,  nevertheless  and  immediately,  enumerate  some 
of  the  results.  This  is  what  I  propose  to  do  in  a  few  words 
with  this  reservation :  that  these  indications  are,  for  the 
most  part,  provisional  and  far  from  representing  a  complete 
table  of  the  scientific  advantages  which  will  be  derived  from 
the  expedition. 

GEOGRAPHY   AND    GEOLOGY 

The  geographical  discoveries  were  made  in  the  south 
and  west  of  Bransfield  Strait  in  Dirk-Gerritz  Archipelago. 
In  this  region  earlier  explorers  noticed  a  large  land  (Palmer- 
land),  separated  by  a  gulf  (Hughes  Gulf)  from  another  land 
situated  in  the  east  (Trinityland).  Larsen,  the  captain  of 
the  Jason  (1892),  having  seen  south  of  Louis  Philippeland 
a  vast  communication  between  the  Atlantic  and  the  Pacific, 

410 


GENERAL  RESULTS  OF  THE  EXPEDITION 

Trinityland  became  an  island  for  geographers.  Dallmann, 
the  captain  of  the  Grofiland (\Z']2),  had  discovered  on  the 
Pacific  side  an  entrance  to  a  strait  (Bismarck  Strait). 
Geographers  then  made  an  effort,  upon  the  maps,  to  com- 
municate Hughes  Gulf  with  Bismarck  Strait. 

The  observations  of  the  Belgian  Antarctic  Expedition 
demonstrate  that  this  is  all  incorrect.  Palmerland  is  a  vast 
archipelago  of  small  islands;  Hughes  Gulf  is  the  entrance 
to  a  large  strait  which  brings  Bransfield  Strait  into  com- 
munication with  the  Pacific  Ocean.  This  strait  extends 
from  latitude  63°  51'  to  65°  south,  and  its  direction  is 
northeast  to  southwest.  The  Pacific  mouth  of  Belgica 
Strait  does  not  coincide  with  the  entrance  to  Bismarck 
Strait  which,  from  the  position  assigned  by  Dallmann,  is 
situated  much  farther  south;  but  it  is  possible  that  Dall- 
mann made  a  mistake  in  his  observation,  and  that  this  is 
the  very  same  strait.  Trinityland  is  but  the  cape-land  of  a 
large  tract  (Dancoland)  which  forms  the  eastern  shore  of 
Belgica  Strait,  and  which  is  only  the  continuation  of  Gra- 
hamland. 

The  shores  of  Belgica  Channel  are  formed  by  high, 
mountainous  table-lands  with  steep  slopes  and  narrow  val- 
leys. One  of  the  peaks  appears  to  rise  above  an  altitude 
of  two  thousand  metres.  The  channels  which  separate  these 
lands  have  steep  perpendicular  shores  and  possess  great 
depths  in  their  centre.  The  appearance  of  these  lands  and 
channels  indicates  that  we  have  to  do  with  a  sunken  region, 
in  which  the  valleys  were  invaded  by  the  sea.  These  lands 
are  entirely  formed  by  ancient  crystalline  rocks,  granites, 
greenstones,  and  syenites.  We  have  seen  gneiss  only  at 
th^  mouth  of  the  Pacific  Strait.  This  fact  indicates  that 
we  were  in  the  central  part  of  the  antarctic  chain,  whose 
general  direction  is  that  of  Belgica  Strait.  At  the  time 
of  our  sojourn  in  these  regions,  from  the  23d  of  January 

411 


APPENDIX   No.  I 

to  the  1 2th  of  February,  the  strait  was  free  from  ice. 
There  were  only  a  few  icebergs.  If  some  small  islands 
were  only  partially  covered  with  ice,  all  those  of  a  larger 
extent  and  Dancoland  were  completely  covered  with  an 
immense  crust  of  ice  which  showed  itself  under  three  differ- 
ent forms.  The  interior  was  all  occupied  by  a  frozen  sheet 
which  may  be  compared  with  the  Greenland  inland  ice. 
Everywhere  upon  the  mountain-sides  were  suspended  gla- 
ciers, and  in  all  the  valleys  were  tremendous  crystalline 
currents  which  ran  into  the  sea.  The  limit  of  eternal  snow 
coincides  here  almost  to  a  certainty  with  the  level  of  the 
sea.  The  study  of  the  moraines  allowed  us  to  state  that 
the  glaciers  had  receded,  and  at  the  same  time  gave  us  a 
decisive  information  as  to  a  much  more  considerable  exten- 
sion at  an  anterior  epoch.  The  erratic  materials  furnish  us 
with  rocks  much  more  varied  than  those  found  on  the  spot. 
We  have  even  met  with  transformed  sedimentary  rocks. 

Another  important  geographical  discovery  is  that  of  a 
continental  table-land  or  plateau  situated  between  longi- 
tude 75°  and  103°  west  of  Greenwich,  and  from  latitude 
70°  to  71°  36'  south.  Its  mean  depth  is  500  metres,  with 
an  abrupt  fall  to  1500  metres  towards  the  north.  The  depth 
of  the  continental  plateau,  generally  placed  at  from  200  to 
300  metres,  shows  that  this  region  has  also  undergone  the 
depressive  movement  which  was  remarked  in  the  lands  of 
Belgica  Strait.  The  continental  plateau  rises  gently  to- 
wards the  south,  and  lowers  in  its  eastern  portion  towards 
the  north  in  order  to  connect  itself  most  assuredly  with  the 
continental  plateau  of  Graham  and  Alexander  lands.  It 
must  connect  in  a  like  manner  towards  the  west,  fifty  degrees 
farther,  with  the  continental  plateau  discovered  by  Ross  east 
of  Victorialand.  We  would  then  have  a  continuous  or  un- 
interrupted continental  mass  from  longitude  50°  west  to  63° 
east.     However,  the  discovery  made  by  the  Belgica  gives  a 

412 


GENERAL  RESULTS  OF  THE  EXPEDITION 

serious  support  to  the  hypothesis  of  an  antarctic  continent 
— an  hypothesis  made  the  more  likely  from  many  other  con- 
siderations, of  which  I  shall  cite  only  one,  which  is  in  its 
place  here ;  that  is  to  say,  the  terreous  nature  of  the  sedi- 
ments of  the  continental  plateau  and  neighbouring  regions. 
Indeed,  these  sediments  contain,  besides  the  grayish  slime, 
a  very  strong  proportion  of  sand,  gravel,  and  a  very  great 
number  of  pebbles  of  rounded  form,  which  were  certainly 
rolled  by  the  sea,  and  were  a  part  of  a  littoral  cordon.  I 
need  not  say  that  the  transport  of  these  substances  must 
have  been  made  by  the  ice.  If  this  plateau  indicates  the 
existence  of  a  continental  mass  south  of  the  seventy-second 
parallel,  inversely,  the  driftway  of  the  Belgica  demonstrates 
the  non-existence  of  the  ice- wall  reported  by  Bellings- 
hausen, and  the  same  thing  may  be  said  of  the  land  signalled 
by  Walker,  since  we  passed  with  the  ice-drift  over  its  sup- 
posed position.  The  easy  drifting  of  the  pack  towards  the 
west  renders  impossible  the  presence  of  the  land  reported 
by  Cook  towards  longitude  105°  west. 

ASTRONOMY    AND    MAGNETISM 

The  magnetic  observations  were  the  object  of  mensura- 
tion upon  the  deflection,  inclination  and  terrestrial  mag- 
netic intensity.  They  were  effected  principally  with  the  aid 
of  the  Neumayer  apparatus ;  Gambey's  compass  and  Brun- 
ner's  theodolite  were  utilised  on  land,  either  at  the  stop- 
ping-places on  Belgica  Channel  or  in  the  known  regions 
where  they  were  used  for  comparing  and  determining  con- 
stant quantities.  On  the  ice-pack  the  perpetual  motions  of 
the  ice  did  not  allow  us  to  install  our  apparatus  for  varia- 
tions. Absolute  and  ready  measurements  were  the  only 
ones  made.      The  magnetic  stations  number  sixty. 

The   astronomical   observations  had  for  their  principal 


APPENDIX   No.  I 

object  chronometric  regulations.  We  utilised  the  method 
of  lunar  distances — that  of  star  occupations  by  the  moon, 
as  well  as  the  eclipses  of  Jupiter's  satellites. 

Pendulum  measurements  were  made  in  the  Strait  of 
Magellan,  at  Punta  Arenas. 

The  sketch  of  Belgica  Strait  was  drawn  by  taking,  as 
principal  points,  twelve  stations  whose  co-ordinates  were 
astronomically  determined.  The  other  stations  were  ob- 
tained either  by  the  method  of  sufficient  segments  or  by 
that  of  magnetic  bearings.  We  employed  also  Admiral 
Mouchez's  method. 

While  drifting,  the  positions  of  the  ship  were  observed 
and  calculated  either  by  Marcy  Saint-Hilaire's  method  or 
Borda's,  when  the  latitude  had  been  determined  beforehand 
by  a  culmination  or  a  circummeridian. 

METEOROLOGY 

The  only  notions  we  had  about  the  climate  of  the  antarctic 
were  based  upon  the  very  inadequate  observations  made 
during  the  three  summer  months.  The  Belgian  Antarctic 
Expedition  is  the  first  which  enables  us  to  furnish  a  series 
of  observations  taken  hourly  during  a  full  year.  These 
observations  were  made  during  the  year  of  the  imprison- 
ment of  the  Belgica  in  the  ice-pack  between  latitudes 
70°  and  71°  36^  south,  and  from  longitude  85°  to  103° 
west.  In  order  to  appreciate  thoroughly  the  conclusions 
which  can  be  derived  from  these  observations,  we  must 
not  forget  that  the  Belgica,  during  her  wintering  in  the 
ice-pack,  was  in  the  neighbourhood  of  free  waters;  in 
consequence,  the  climate  studied  is  a  coast  climate,  influ- 
enced partly  by  the  neighbourhood  of  the  sea,  partly  by 
that  of  the  continental  antarctic  land  mass  covered  with 
eternal  snow.     The  definite  corrections  of  figures  obtained 

414 


GENERAL  RESULTS  OF  THE  EXPEDITION 

have  not  as  yet  been  made;  still,  we  are  able  to  present 
the  general  results  with  an  adequate  approximation. 

The  minimum  temperature  was  observed  in  September; 
it  was  —43°.  '  The  maximum  is  remarkably  low:  +2°  (in 
February).  The  month  of  July  is  the  coldest  of  the  year, 
with  an  average  of  —22.5°.  The  warmest  month  is  Feb- 
ruary: average,—  !^.  The  mean  temperature  of  the  year 
is  —9.6^,  an  extraordinarily  low  figure  for  that  latitude. 

North  of  the  Spitsbergen,  at  latitude  80°  north,  we  have 

—  8.9°.  The  mean  temperature  in  summer  is  —1.5°,  a 
figure  just  as  remarkable  for  its  latitude,  considering  that 
the  expedition  of  the  Fram  obtained  for  a  summer  average 

—  1.2°  by  latitude  84°  north.  This  low  temperature  can 
only  be  explained  by  the  absence  of  land  towards  the  north, 
and  the  presence  of  an  antarctic  continent  entirely  covered 
with  ice.  This  hypothesis  is  based  upon  a  fact  which  was 
observed  by  the  expedition.  Every  time  the  wind  blew 
from  the  north  the  temperature  rose,  even  in  midwinter,  to 
0°,  but  did  not  ascend  higher.  As  soon  as  the  wind  shifted 
and  blew  from  the  south  the  thermometer  descended 
abruptly,  even  in  the  middle  of  summer,  to  a  very  low 
temperature. 

In  the  interior  of  the  antarctic  continent  there  must 
be  a  pole  whose  temperature  is  much  lower  than  the  frigid- 
ity of  the  arctic  poles  of  cold ;  the  frozen  surface  of  the 
antarctic  continent  is  in  effect  much  larger  than  that  of 
Greenland,  northern  Siberia  or  North  America.  The  zone 
explored  by  the  Belgica  lies  in  a  cyclonic  region ;  yet  the 
mean  barometric  pressure  of  the  year,  744  mm.  .7,  obtained 
by  a  direct  observation,  is  superior  by  6  mm.  to  the  theo- 
retical figure  obtained  by  Ferrel  for  that  latitude,  and  de- 
monstrates that  the  pressure  does  not  decrease  progressively 
towards  the  pole,  where,  on  the  contrary,  there  must  reign 
an  anticyclone.     The  absolute  minimum  was  711  mm.  .74, 

415 


APPENDIX  No.  I 

one  of  the  lowest  pressures  observed  on  the  level  of  the 
sea.  The  maximum  pressure  was  ']']2  mm.  .14.  The  max- 
imum average  monthly  variations  of  the  barometer  height 
is  34  mm.  .30 — a  very  high  figure,  which  indicates  that  the 
tempestuous  region  extends  beyond  the  polar  circle.  The 
barometer  height  is  in  the  average  maximum  at  the  solstices, 
and  minimum  at  the  equinoxes,  which  shows  that  in  the 
antarctic  there  is  a  direct  and  very  simple  relation  between 
the  barometric  pressure  and  the  sun's  altitude.  Winds  are 
frequent  and  generally  violent.  Only  fifty-five  days  of 
calm  or  very  feeble  wind  were  reckoned  for  a  whole  year. 
In  the  summer,  breezes  blow  mostly  from  eastern  regions ; 
in  winter  from  the  western.  It  is  probable  that  our  region 
is  already  freed  from  the  direct  influence  of  the  circular 
antarctic  zone  of  western  winds.  The  air  is  almost  con- 
stantly saturated  with  watery  vapour,  and  humidity  settles 
down  in  the  form  of  fog  and  snow  with  remarkable  facil- 
ity. Hoar-frost  accumulates  in  enormous  quantities  upon 
every  object— upon  the  ice-pack,  the  new  ice,  and  even 
upon  the  falling  snowflakes.  During  the  year  we  counted  two 
hundred  and  fifty-seven  days  of  snowfall  and  fourteen  days 
of  drizzling  rain.  The  sky  is  almost  constantly  obscured  by 
a  cloak  of  grayish  and  low  mists,  which,  when  they  some- 
times happen  to  disappear,  allow  a  pure  sky  to  be  seen, 
upon  which  only  a  few  high  clouds  and  very  elongated  cirri 
may  be  noticed.  It  would  not  do  to  generalise  these 
observations  and  come  to  the  conclusion  that  the  whole 
antarctic  is  subject  to  the  climatic  regime  which  we  have 
just  described.  It  is  very  probable,  on  the  contrary,  that 
in  the  interior  of  the  antarctic  continent  the  sky  must  be 
very  often  pure,  humidity  Hghter,  and  snowfalls  less  fre- 
quent. The  Belgica  was,  in  fact,  imprisoned  in  a  littoral 
zone,  that  is,  in  a  zone  where  came,  to  be  condensed  itself, 
all  the  humidity  brought  forth  by  the  winds  of  the  vast 

416 


GENERAL  RESULTS  OF  THE  EXPEDITION 

regions  of  a  free  sea  situated  farther  north.  The  south 
wind,  or  land  wind,  always  had  the  effect  of  driving  the 
clouds  away  and  bringing  on  a  dry  cold.  Optical  phenom- 
ena were  very  often  noticed.  Splendid  sunrises  and  sun- 
sets, parhelia,  paraselenae,  and  mirage  phenomena  were  re- 
markable and  varied.  During  the  whole  winter  austral 
auroras  were  frequent,  but  not  remarkably  vivid.  One 
single  drape-like  aurora  was  seen ;  the  others  looked  like 
luminous  clouds  traversed  by  moving  rays. 

Insolation  during  the  summer  months  is  considerable. 
On  the  30th  of  December  the  thermometer  with  a  black 
ball  marked  +41°,  while  the  temperature  of  the  air  was 
at  —1°.  The  effect  of  that  insolation  is,  however,  but  little 
felt  upon  the  ice-pack;  the  upper  layer  of  snow  hardly 
melts  in  summer. 

ICE 

The  observations  made  with  regard  to  this  subject  confirm 
what  was  already  known  from  the  examination  of  the  arctic 
ice.  The  ice  directly  produced  by  the  freezing  of  sea- water 
is  never  of  great  thickness,  but  this  thickness  increases  on 
one  side  by  the  accumulation  of  snows  on  its  surface,  and 
on  the  other  by  the  heaping  of  blocks  during  the  pressure. 
These  mechanical  phenomena  are  able  to  form  slabs  eight 
metres  in  height.  The  pressures  are  produced,  in  the 
regions  explored  by  the  Belgica,  by  the  wind,  which  is  thus 
foretold :  In  summer,  during  calm  weather,  there  is  always 
a  change  in  the  ice-pack,  which  is  accompanied  by  a  forma- 
tion of  cracks  and  leads.  The  pressure  is  produced  after- 
wards, but  before  the  wind  is  felt ;  it  generally  ceases  some 
time  after  the  wind  prevails  and  when  the  ice-pack  is  drift- 
ing. This  seems  to  me  to  prove  that  the  pressure  is  the 
result  of  difference  in  the  velocity  of  the  drifting  parts  of 
the  ice-pack,  and  this  difference  is  due  to  the  fact  that  a 


APPENDIX   No.  I 

wind  which  begins  to  blow  drives  the  portion  of  the  ice-pack 
on  which  it  blows  upon  the  rest,  which  has  not  hitherto  felt 
its  influence. 

It  must  be  said  that  the  pressure  may  also  be  produced 
when  the  ice-pack  is  driven  by  the  wind  against  land. 
The  icebergs  met  by  the*  expedition  are  incontestably 
formed  by  an  ice  which  has  a  different  origin  from  that 
which  forms  the  ice-pack,  properly  speaking.  An  iceberg 
is  indisputably  a  fragment  of  a  terrestrial  glacier.  All  the 
particulars  which  we  have  been  able  to  state,  concerning 
the  structure  of  the  floating  iceberg,  were  equally  observed 
in  the  structure  of  the  fa9ades  of  the  glaciers  of  Belgica 
Strait. 

OCEANOGRAPHY 

A  SOUNDING-LINE  was  much  used  between  Staten  Island 
and  the  South  Shetlands.  It  allowed  us  to  find  out  that 
Drake  Strait  is  the  prolongation  of  the  oceanic  basin  of 
the  Pacific.  At  a  short  distance  from  Staten  Island  the 
continental  plateau  falls  abruptly  from  296  metres  to  1574 
metres;  farther  south  we  find  4040  metres;  then  the  bot- 
tom rises  gently  towards  the  South  Shetlands,  which  rest 
themselves  upon  a  continental  plateau.  These  soundings 
bring  forth  an  important  argument  for  those  who,  like 
myself,  beHeve  in  the  independence  of  the  American  and 
antarctic  continents.  The  chain  of  the  Andes,  first  directed 
from  north  to  south,  bends  or  inclines  towards  the  east  to 
Tierra  del  Fuego,  and  takes  a  west-easterly  direction  in 
Staten  Island.  Perhaps  also  this  curve  is  in  the  direction 
of  the  northeast  through  the  Falkland  Islands.  In  the 
same  manner  the  chains  of  Grahamland  are  divided  from 
southwest  to  northeast,  and  through  the  South  Shetlands 
from  west  to  east,  a  direction  which,  in  the  South  Orkney 

418 


GENERAL  RESULTS  OF  THE  EXPEDITION 

Isles,  leans  slightly  towards  the  southeast.  It  seems  to  me 
that  there  is  here  a  system  of  divergent  chains.  Other 
people,  however,  connect  these  two  chains  by  means  of  a 
vast  hypothetical  curve.  It  is  evident  that  this  question 
can  only  be  solved  by  the  oceanographical  study  of  the 
region  comprised  between  New  Georgia  of  the  south  and 
Drake  Strait. 

In  Drake  Strait  the  temperature  of  the  superficial  sheet 
of  water  is  above  o°,  but  below  its  surface  the  temperature 
descends  to  — 1°,  to  ascend  again  from  200  metres  there- 
about, and  maintains  itself  in  the  depths  above  0°,  at  the 
bottom  (3660  metres),  where  it  is  +0.6°;  the  whole  column 
of  water  cools  progressively  towards  the  south.  The  sheet 
of  cold  water  signalled  below  its  surface  has  the  shape  of  a 
wedge,  whose  point  is  directed  north  and  whose  base  is 
south.  This  sheet  of  cold  water  increases  in  thickness 
towards  the  south,  and  nears  the  surface  at  the  same  time. 
It  is  due  to  the  presence  and  melting  of  icebergs. 

In  the  region  situated  between  longitudes  75°  and 
103°  west,  and  from  latitude  69°  to  latitude  71°  30'  south, 
the  temperature  of  the  water  is  somewhat  diverse. 

Above  the  continental  plateau  the  superficial  sheet  of 
water  has  a  temperature  of  —2°,  but  the  temperature  ascends 
gradually  as  far  as  the  bottom,  where  it  maintains  itself 
between  0°  and  + 1  °.  The  cold  water  occupies  a  greater 
thickness  than  the  warm  water,  and  this  thickness  increases 
towards  the  south.  North  of  the  continental  plateau  the 
temperatures  of  the  water  are  nearly  the  same  as  in  Drake 
Strait.  No  constant  currents  were  observed,  although  the 
ice-pack  in  which  the  Belgica  was  inclosed  was  in  constant 
motion  ;  and  though  the  drifting  movement  exceeded  some- 
times ten  miles  a  day,  it  is  not  possible  to  establish  to  a 
certainty  the  existence  of  a  current.  The  drifting  was  cer- 
tainly determined  by  the  exclusive  influence  of  the  wind, 

419 


APPENDIX  No.  I 

and  I  do  not  doubt  but  that  a  careful  comparison  of  the 
successive  positions  of  the  ice-pack  and  mariners'  cards  will 
demonstrate  it  in  a  definite  manner. 

The  sediments  found  upon  the  continental  plateau  and 
north  of  it  are  of  a  terreous  origin,  as  stated  before;  but 
what  is  most  remarkable  is  the  great  number  of  globige- 
rinae  which  are  met  there,  and  an  absence  of  diatomaceae. 
Yet  the  rapid  examination  of  the  plant  showed  a  very- 
abundant  or  rich  flora  of  diatomaceae,  and  almost  no  globi- 
gerinae. 

ZOOLOGY    AND    BOTANY 

As  I  have  already  remarked,  the  Belgica  Channel  lands 
are  entirely  covered  with  a  continuous  and  thick  cloak  of 
ice;  a  few  small  islands,  shores,  and  perpendicular  cliffs 
alone  show  the  naked  rock.  Upon  this  limited  portion  of 
antarctic  land  can  vegetation  alone  develop  itself ;  and,  indeed, 
it  does  on  these  spots.  The  only  floriferous  plant  we  found 
is  of  the  ord^r  Graminece J  which  probably  belongs  to  the  Aira 
species ;  but  the  mosses  (known  among  others,  Barbula  and 
Bryum)  and  the  lichens  (known  among  others,  Lecanora] 
Verrucaria,  and  Usnea)  are  more  abundant.  On  the  spots 
where  the  water  oozes  from  the  melting  snows  there  grow 
some  soft  water- wracks — oscillariaceae  and  diatomaceae. 

The  terrestrial  animals,  properly  so  called,  are  repre- 
sented by  a  small  species  of  Diptera  with  rudimentary 
wings,  podurellae  in  large  quantities,  living  with  three  or 
four  species  of  small  Acarida  or  mites  among  mosses  and 
lichens.  Upon  soft  water-wracks  there  rises  a  microscopic 
fauna  composed  of  Nematoidea,  Rotifera,  Tardigrada,  In- 
fusoria, and  Rhizopoda.  These  animals  and  plants  represent 
at  the  present  day  the  terrestrial  antarctic  fauna  and  flora, 
and  no  other  living  animal  has  yet  been  discovered  upon  the 

420 


GENERAL  RESULTS  OF  THE  EXPEDITION 

whole  extent  of  the  properly  called  antarctic  region,  for  we 
cannot  consider  as  terrestrial  animals  the  birds  and  seals 
which  inhabit  this  region.  The  question  is  to  know  what  has 
become  of  the  autochtone  fauna  and  flora,  which  must  have 
inhabited  the  great  antarctic  land  and  wastes  during  the 
geological  periods,  when  the  ice  had  not  invaded  the  polar 
regions.  To  this  question,  it  seems  to  me,  there  is  but 
one  answer  to  be  made;  the  whole  terrestrial  antarctic 
fauna  was  destroyed  during  the  glacial  epochs,  which,  be- 
fore the  present  epoch,  covered  over  with  ice  more  com- 
pletely than  to-day  the  whole  antarctic  region.  We  possess 
decisive  information  concerning  the  existence  of  a  vast 
crystalline  cap  which  stretched  over  the  whole  of  Patagonia 
and  Tierra  del  Fuego.  Moreover,  we  observed  in  Belgica 
Channel  some  glacial  phenomena  which  incontestably  in- 
dicate a  much  greater  extension  of  ice  than  the  present 
existing  one.  I  believe  that  even  the  plants  and  terrestrial 
animals  that  were  found  upon  the  lands  of  Belgica  Strait 
are  not  the  remains  of  the  antarctic  flora  and  fauna  of  the 
preglacial  epoch,  but  American  immigrants  brought  by  the 
large-winged  birds  which  are  common  to  both  regions. 

Birds  are  very  numerous  in  the  Belgica  Channel,  and  the 
greater  part  of  them  rest  in  the  holes  and  cracks  of  the 
cliffs.  With  but  one  exception,  the  Chionis  alba,  all  are 
web-footed  and  are  a  part  of  the  orders  Gavia,  Tubmares, 
Steganopoda,  and  Impenes.  The  most  common  are  the 
Dominican  sea-gull  {Larus  dominicanus),  the  brown  sea-gull 
{Megalestris  antarctica),  the  sea-swallow  {^Sterna  hirundi- 
naced),  the  large  petrel  [Ossifraga  gigantea),  the  bird  of 
tempests  {Oceanites  oceanicus),  the  Cape  pigeon  {Daption 
capensis),  the  carunculated  cormorant  {Phalacrocorax  ca- 
runculatus),  the  Papuan  penguin  {Pygoscelis  papua),  and  the 
antarctic  penguin  [Pygoscelis  antarctica),  these  latter  two 
living  in  vast  rookeries ;  in  short,  the  curious  beak-sheathed 

421 


APPENDIX   No.   I 

bird  {Chionis  alba)  which,  like  most  other  birds  already 
mentioned,  nests  in  the  holes  and  crevices  of  rocks. 

Two  varieties  of  seals  were  seen  in  Belgica  Channel — 
the  Weddell  seal  {Leptonychotes  weddelli),  frequently  met 
in  small  bands,  and  the  crab-eater  seal  [Lobodon  carci- 
nophagd),  which  is  more  scarce.  Among  the  Cetacea,  the 
Megaptera  boops  ( ?)  is  met  in  large  troops,  often  in  the  com- 
pany of  a  large  balaenoptera  [Balcenoptera  Sibbaldii)  ( ?),  but 
no  genuine  black  or  Greenland  bone  whale  was  ever  seen. 
The  Httoral  fauna  and  flora  are  badly  represented  on  account 
of  the  constant  motion  of  the  ice  along  the  rocky  shores  of 
the  sea.  Sea-wracks  cannot  fix  themselves  upon  them,  nor 
can  animals.  Yet  in  some  well-sheltered  crevices  I  found 
some  rare  sea-grasses  (Desmarestia,  etc.),  and  patellae  with 
small  inferior  animals. 

The  first  biological  example  we  could  ascertain,  during 
our  imprisonment  of  thirteen  months  in  the  ice-pack,  was 
a  general  presence  of  diatomaceae  on  the  superficial  sheets 
of  the  sea,  as  well  as  upon  icebergs  and  in  the  interior  of 
the  holes  and  cracks  of  the  sea-ice.  The  most  frequently 
represented  species  are  Chcetoceros,  Coscinodiscus,  and 
Chorethron.  The  bed  or  plant  is  not  very  rich  and  but 
little  varied.  It  is  composed  of  small-sized  animals,  of 
which  the  most  frequently  represented  are  enumerated  in 
the  order  of  their  frequency :  the  Copepodaes  Radiolaria 
(ProtocystiSy  CannosphcBrd)^  Pteropoda  {Limacina)^  Poly- 
chcBta  {Pelagobid),  Copelata  {Oikopleura)^  Ostracoda^ 
Siphonophora  [Etidoxia),  etc. 

The  size  of  the  bed  or  plant  undergoes  a  season's  change. 
During  the  winter,  sea-ice,  being  very  thick,  intercepts 
daylight;  in  consequence  the  diatomaceae  cannot  increase 
and  the  bed  decreases  considerably  in  size.  In  the  sum- 
mer, on  the  contrary,  sea-ice  thins,  cracks,  and  tracks  are 
numerous ;  light  can  thus  penetrate,  which  accounts  for  an 

422 


GENERAL  RESULTS  OF  THE  EXPEDITION 

abundant  growth  of  diatomaceae,  and  the  bed  increases  con- 
siderably in  volume. 

One  of  the  most  important  plancton  forms,  a  shrimp, 
with  regard  to  the  part  it  plays  in  the  economy  of  antarctic 
life,  is  a  species  of  the  Euphaiisia  kind.  In  fact,  there 
exist  immense  shoals  of  this  animal  under  the  ice-pack,  and 
these  shoals  serve  as  an  almost  exclusive  food  for  seals, 
penguins,  and  presumably  cetaceans. 

Dredgings  performed  upon  the  continental  plateau  spoken 
of  elsewhere  brought  forth  a  fauna  which,  from  its  general 
character,  shows  a  remarkable  affinity  with  the  abyssal 
fauna.  We  fished,  in  effect,  pedunculated  Crinoidea, 
Elasipoda,  benthal  Asterias,  Aselidce,  Pantopoda,  Gorgon- 
idce,  PolychcEta,  Cumacea,  Mysidce,  Ascidice,  which  have 
a  striking  air  of  relationship  with  the  similar  forms  fished 
in  the  great  oceanic  depths.  This  fact  ought  not  to  astonish 
us,  for  we  well  know  that  the  great  factor  in  the  distribution 
of  marine  animals  is  temperature.  Now,  the  temperature  of 
the  water  upon  this  plateau  of  five  hundred  metres  in  depth 
is  much  the  same  as  that  of  the  oceanic  depths.  The  groups 
best  represented  are  the  Echinodermata,  Crustacea  {Edri- 
ophthalma),  Polychceta,  Gorgonidce,  and  Bryozoa.  The 
birds  which  were  constantly  present  upon  the  ice-pack  are 
not  numerous:  the  very  large  petrel  {Ossifraga gigantea)^ 
the  snow  petrel  {Pagodroma  nivea),  the  antarctic  petrel 
(Thalassoeca  antarctica),  the  brown  sea-gull  i^Megalestris 
antarctica),  Forster's  penguin  {Aptenodytes  forsteri\  and 
the  Adelia  land  penguin  {Pygosulis  adelice). 

The  whole  four  seal  species  inhabiting  the  antarctic  were 
seen  during  our  stay  in  the  ice-pack;  that  is,  the  crab- 
eater  seal  {Lobodon  carcinophaga),  Weddell  sea- leopard 
(Leptonychotes  weddelli),  the  true  sea-leopard  (Ognio- 
rhymis  leptonyx),  and  Ross's  seal  {Ommatophoca  Rossi). 
Balcenoptera  of  a  small  size  and  Ziphiidce  came  very  often 

423 


APPENDIX  No.  I 

to  breathe  in  the  cracks  and  leads  of  the  ice-pack.  The 
temperature  of  the  bodies  of  the  seals  is  about  +37°,  that 
of  the  penguins  about  +40°.  These  figures  are  below  the 
normal.  These  animals,  in  order  to  fight  against  the  ex- 
terior cold,  do  not  create  more  heat  than  this,  only  they  lose 
less,  and  they  arrive  at  this  result  by  means  of  the  thick 
covering  of  fat  which  surrounds  them.  Direct  observations 
allow  us  to  state  this  fact.  The  cold  does  not  appear  to 
have  a  pernicious  influence  upon  the  human  organism.  In 
temperatures  of  from— 30°  to  —40°  and  calm  weather,  the 
feeling  one  experiences  is  rather  pleasant  and  invigorating. 
It  is  naturally  otherwise  when  the  wind  blows.  I  believe 
that  for  a  traveller  the  great  inconvenience  of  cold  upon  the 
ice-pack  is  that  it  creates  a  condensation  of  aqueous  vapour 
which  is  eliminated  by  the  skin's  surface.  At  the  end  of  a 
short  time  the  clothes  are  all  wet,  and  it  is  hard  under  such 
conditions  to  get  warm.  But  the  greatest  inconvenience 
in  polar  regions  Hes  in  the  absence  of  the  sun  during  the 
winter  months.  The  pernicious  influence  of  the  absence 
of  direct  sunbeams,  upon  the  human  organism,  was  witnessed 
to  a  certainty  during  the  winter  of  1898. 

The  whole  crew  of  the  Belgica,  without  exception,  pre- 
sented symptoms  which  in  medical  books  are  grouped  under 
the  name  of  chronic  anaemia.  With  them  all  we  could 
notice  a  discoloration  of  the  mucous  membranes,  dyspnoea, 
acceleration  of  the  pulse,  dizziness,  insomnia,  a  complete 
incapacity  for  prolonged  intellectual  work,  and  even  a  swell- 
ing of  the  legs.  The  report  of  the  surgeon  of  the  expedi- 
tion promises  to  be  interesting  under  this  head. 

I  have  spoken  only  to  call  attention  to  the  studies  which 
were  made  by  the  members  of  the  expedition  in  Patagonia 
and  Tierra  del  Fuego.  They  will  bring  out  some  zoologi- 
cal, botanical,  geological,  and  anthropological  contributions 
for  the  knowledge  of  these  important  regions  of  the  globe. 

424 


Appendix    No.  II 
THE   ANTARCTIC    CLIMATE 

BY 

HENRYK  ARCTOWSKI 

The  following  is  a  preliminary  account  of  some  of  the 
additions  to  our  knowledge  of  the  meteorology  of  higher 
southern  latitudes  contributed  by  the  recent  Belgian  Ant- 
arctic Expedition. 

These  desolate  antarctic  regions,  still  so  little  explored, 
present  many  physical  problems  of  the  highest  interest; 
the  question  of  their  climate,  attacked  as  early  as  the  time 
of  Croll,  must  prove  a  subject  of  exhaustive  investigation 
in  the  immediate  future.  The  results  I  have  obtained  were 
not  originally  intended  for  publication  in  their  present 
form,  because  the  mean  values  involved  can  only  be  re- 
garded as  first  approximations;  however,  it  appears  that 
my  provisional  numbers  are  sufficiently  exact  to  indicate 
the  general  nature  of  the  climatic  regime  in  parts  of  the 
globe  about  which  we  have  been,  up  to  the  present,  prac- 
tically without  information.  The  fact  that  other  antarctic 
expeditions  are  about  to  set  out  has  decided  me  to  publish 
my  figures  as  they  stand. 

F'or  the  purposes  of  our  inquiry,  it  is  a  matter  of  indiffer- 
ence whether  an  antarctic  continent  exists  or  not ;  we  have 
undoubtedly  to  deal  with  a  continuous  surface  of  ice,  which 
the  meteorologist  must  regard  as  a  land  surface  as  opposed 

425 


APPENDIX   No.  II 

to  an  open  sea.  This  ice-cap  is  entirely  isolated  by  an 
ocean  which  surrounds  it,  and  is  subjected  to  the  peculiar 
conditions  of  polar  day  and  night.  Hence  the  first  points 
to  be  considered  are  the  average  distribution  of  pressure  and 
the  direction  of  the  prevailing  winds.  The  positions  (about 
8i°  and  95 ^  west  longitude,  and  69°  50'  and  71^  30'  south 
latitude)  show  a  relatively  small  distance  from  the  open  sea 
and  great  distance  from  the  pole.  In  consequence  we  ex- 
perienced two  distinct  types  of  climate  according  to  the 
direction  of  the  wind, — a  continental  and  an  oceanic, — in 
effect  a  coastal  climate  depending  on  the  passage  of  cy- 
clones which  varied  in  frequency  with  the  seasons.  This 
seems  to  be  the  key  of  the  whole  position.  As  regards 
details,  I  take  into  consideration  the  mean  and  minimum 
temperatures  and  the  barometric  pressures,  the  direction 
of  wind,  the  amount  of  cloud,  and  the  amount  of  precipi- 
tation. 

Table  I.  gives  the  mean  values  obtained  from  hourly 
observations  of  temperature  made  on  board  the  Belgica 
during  her  drift  in  the  ice. 

July  was  the  coldest  month;  its  mean  temperature  was 
—  23.5°  C.  (— 10.3°  F.),  and  the  lowest  temperature  observed 
during  the  month,  —37.1°  C.  (—34.8^  F.).  The  extreme 
minimum  of  temperature  was  observed  in  September, 
-43.1°  C.  (-45.6°  F.). 

The  warmest  month  was  February,  with  a  mean  temper- 
ature of —  1.0°  C.  (30.2^  F.),  and  minimum  for  the  month, 
-9.6°  C.  (14.7°  P.). 

If  we  regard  June,  July,  and  August  as  the  antarctic 
winter  months,  and  December,  January,  and  February  as 
summer,  we  may  take  it  that  the  mean  winter  temperature 
is  —16.8°  C.  (1.8°  P.),  and  the  mean  for  summer,  —1.5°  C. 

(29.3°  P.). 

Table    II.   shows   the  minimum   temperature    for   each 

426 


THE  ANTARCTIC   CLIMATE 

month.  The  maximum  temperatures  are  less  interesting; 
the  winter  average  is  — 1°  to  o°  C.  (30°  to  32^  F.) ;  the 
absolute  maximum  for  the  equinoctial  months  is  0°  to  1° 
C.  (320  to  340  F.),  and  for  summer,  2°  C.  (36°  F.). 

These  tables  show  that  between  the  seventieth  and 
seventy-first  parallels  of  the  southern  hemisphere,  and 
amid  the  ice  of  the  Antarctic  Ocean,  first,  the  mean  temper- 
ature is  lower  than  that  of  the  northern  coast  of  Spitsbergen 
— Mossel  Bay,  1872-73,  —8.9°  C.  (16°  F.);  second,  the 
minimum  temperature  is  quite  as  low  as  the  minima  ob- 
served on  the  east  side  of  Greenland  (Sabine  Island  and 
Scoresby  Sound) ;  and  third,  that  the  mean  temperature  of 
the  three  summer  months  is  lower  than  the  corresponding 
mean  in  the  ice  of  the  Arctic  Ocean — ^the  observations  of 
the  Fram  give  a  mean  for  June,  July,  and  August  of  —  i.2°C. 
(29.8°  F.).  Note  that  the  calculations  of  Spitaler  and  Supan 
give  a  mean  temperature  for  the  parallel  of  70°  north  lati- 
tude of —  10.2°  C.  (13.6°  F.).  If  we  consider  that  a  con- 
siderable fraction  of  the  seventieth  parallel  of  south  latitude 
is  land,  we  can  suppose  that  it  may  have  a  mean  tempera- 
ture as  low  as  the  seventieth  degree  north,  and  include  a 
pole  of  cold  with  lower  temperature,  as  the  Asiatic  or  North 
American  poles  of  cold. 

As  in  the  case  of  the  mean  temperatures,  the  values  I 
am  able  to  give  for  mean  barometric  pressure  must  be 
regarded  only  as  first  approximations.  During  our  drift 
in  the  pack-ice  hourly  observations  were  made  with  a 
marine  barometer  and  with  an  aneroid.  I  have  not  yet 
been  able  to  apply  exact  corrections  to  these  observations, 
but  if  we  bear  in  mind  that  while  the  temperature  correc- 
tion is  negative,  the  correction  for  latitude  is  positive,  and 
that  for  temperatures  about  13°  to  15°  C.  (55°  to  60°  F.) 
these  corrections  are  numerically  nearly  equal,  we  can  ac- 
cept the  uncorrected  values  as  near  enough  for  our  present 

427 


APPENDIX   No.  II 


purpose.  Table  III.  gives  the  averages  of  the  aneroid 
observations,  calculated  to  whole  millimetres- only.  The 
mean  for  the  year  is  744.7  mm.  (29.319  inches). 

Tables  IV.  and  V.  give  the  principal  minima  and  maxima 
of  pressure  observed;  the  values  are  reduced  to  the  freezing- 


mm. 


ni 


IV 


VI 


vii  vni   IX 


XI 


Xll 


ni 


770 
760 
750 
740 
730 
720 


FIO.  1. 

point  and  gravity  at  45  ^  latitude.  The  lowest  pressure  ob- 
served during  our  wintering  was  7 1 1 .  74  mm.  (28.022  inches), 
and  the  highest  ']']2. 14  mm.  (30.400  inches),  a  range  of  60.40 
mm.  (2.378  inches).  Table  VI.  gives  the  monthly  varia- 
tions of  the  barometer,  the  mean  value  of  which  amounts 
to  34.30  mm.  (1.350  inches),  showing  even  more  clearly 
than  Table  IV.  that  the  cyclonic  belt  extends  beyond  the 
polar  circle.  From  this  table  it  appears,  further,  that  the 
threfe  months  of  almost  continuous  daylight  (November, 
December,  and  January)  are  characterised  by  a  very  small 
variation  of  pressure — only  23.95  mm.  (0.943  inch).  The 
three  corresponding  months  of  winter  have  also  a  mean 
less  than  those  for  the  intermediate  or  equinoctial  months. 
Compare  this  with  the  mean  pressures  (Table  III.).  The 
differences  between  the  annual  and  monthly  means  (Table 
VII.)  show  that  February,  March,  and  April  form  a  nega- 
tive group,  in  which  the  pressure  is  relatively  low;  the 
three  months  of  polar  night  form  another  group  of  maxi» 

428 


THE  ANTARCTIC   CLIMATE 


mum  barometric  pressure ;  then  follow  August,  September,] 
and  October,  months  of  decreasing  pressure,  a  group  which,' 
although  not  actually  negative,  forms  a  distinct  secondary 
minimum ;  and  lastly,  three  months  of  polar  day  forming  a 
secondary  maximum  of  pressure.  The  general  result  is 
illustrated  in  Fig.  I, — high  pressure  at  the  solstices,  low 
pressure  at  the  equinoxes, — and,  the  existence  of  a  direct 
simple  relation  between  the  barometric  pressure  and  the 
progress  of  the  sun  is  at  once  obvious. 

Table  VIII.  gives  the  observed  wind  directions:  the 
figures  indicate  the  number  of  hours  during  which  the 
wind  blew  from  each  direction  during  the  twelve  months, 
the  sums  constituting  the  "  wind-rose  "  of  the  point  of 
observation.  Fig.  2  shows  that  winds  blow  from  northerly 
and  southerly  points  with  almost  equal  frequency,  and*  that 
easterly  winds  predominate  over  westerly.  The  directions' 
of  greatest  frequency  were  west,  east,  and  northeast. 


PIG.  2. 

The  monthly  wind-roses  show  some  interesting  seasonal 
variations  in  the  ^prevailing  directions  of  the  wind;  we  note 
specially  the  predominance  of  northeast  to  southeast  over 
westerly  winds  from  November  to  February,  and  the  rela- 
tive frequency  of  westerly  winds  during  June,  July,  and 

429 


APPENDIX   No.  II 

August  (Fig.  3).  The  figures  show  that,  on  the  whole, 
the  station  was  beyond  the  westerly  wind  region,  although 
at  certain  seasons  the  westerly  system  did  extend  as  far 
south. 


i.  1899. 


FIG.  3. 


Some  further  points  must  be  referred  to  in  describing 
the  climatic  conditions  we  experienced.  The  temperature 
of  the  air  is  doubtless  the  most  important  element  in  the 

430 


THE   ANTARCTIC   CLIMATE 

study  of  climate ;  but  it  seems  to  me  that  its  importance  is 
relatively  less  in  polar  regions  than  in  other  parts  of  the 
globe.  In  polar  latitudes  the  human  organism  is  chiefly 
influenced  by  the  absence  of  the  sun  during  the  night  of 
winter.  In  the  summer,  on  the  other  hand,  the  radiant 
heat  of  the  sun  is  so  strongly  concentrated  that  the  temper- 
ature of  the  air  scarcely  measures  the  warmth  we  feel. 
Further,  the  action  of  the  solar  rays  is  directly  beneficial — 
the  sun  strengthens  and  reanimates.  And  besides  direct 
insolation,  the  diffused  daylight  itself  must  be  considered. 
One  feels  quite  different  under  a  cloudless  vault  and  under 
a  sky  overcast  and  sombre.  The  presence  or  absence  of 
the  sun  is  a  much  more  important  matter  to  us  than  the 
state  of  the  thermometer. 

The  wind  is  another  extremely  important  factor  from  the 
physiological  point  of  view.  In  calm  weather  a  tempera- 
ture of  —20*^  C.  (—4°  F.)  is  quite  tolerable,  even  agreeable 
if  the  sun  is  shining ;  but  with  a  light  breeze  one  feels  the 
cold  at  once,  and  in  strong  wind  it  is  impossible  to  remain 
long  in  the  open  air  with  so  low  a  temperature.  It  appears 
to  me  that  humidity  plays  a  quite  secondary  part  in  the 
physiology  of  the  polar  climate — at  least,  at  low  tempera- 
tures ;  in  any  case,  the  humidity  of  the  atmosphere  rarely 
makes  itself  felt. 

Some  actinometric  observations  will  serve  to  indicate  the 
intensity  of  radiant  heat.  At  2  P.  M.  on  December  30,  the 
temperature  of  the  air  being — 0.2°  C.  (31.6^  F.),  the  black- 
bulb  thermometer  read  45.1°  C.  (113.2^  F.)  in  the  sun, 
which  explains  why  in  reality  the  weather  felt  very  warm. 

The  sky  was  usually  overcast,  most  frequently  with  a 
thick  layer  of  stratus,  which  formed  a  uniform  gray  cover- 
ing, and  often  persisted  for  days  or  even  weeks  together, 
with  only  short  breaks.  Table  IX.  shows  the  state  of  the 
sky  during  each  month  of  the  year. 

431 


APPENDIX  No.  II 

The  number  of  days  during  which  the  air  was  not  satu- 
rated, i.e.,  on  which  the  hygrometer  indicated  humidity  less 
than  ninety  per  cent,  was,  in  October,  12 ;  November,  18; 
December,  22;  January,  15;  and  February,  11. 

If  we  include  ice-deposits  from  fog  and  similar  precipita- 
tion, we  find  that  snowfall  is  recorded  on  257  days  of  the 
year,  made  up  as  shown  on  the  first  column  of  Table  X. 
The  second  column  of  Table  X.  shows  the  number  of  days 
on  which  rain  (even  a  few  drops)  was  recorded.  Speaking 
generally,  it  may  be  said  that  the  weather  was  extremely 
cloudy,  that  fogs  were  frequent,  that  snow  fell  on  many 
days,  and  that  the  air  was  saturated  nearly  the  whole  time. 

Table  XL  gives  particulars  with  regard  to  wind  force. 


Table  I.— Mean  Temperature. 


oQ 


op 


March 

April 

May , 

June 

July 

August 

September 
October — 
November 
December. 

January 

February.. 

Year 


—  16.8 


15-6 
10.8 
20.3 


15.6 


41) 

—  io.3> 

11.7) 


10. 
II. 

1-3 
17.8 
19.6 
28.0' 
29.8 
30.2 


1.8 


29- 3 


9.6 


14.7 


Table  II. — Monthly  Minima  of  Temperature. 


OF 


1899. 


February  23,  at  10  p.m 

March  15,  at  4  a.m 

April  3,  at  6  p.m 

May  29,  at  8  p.m. 

June  3,  at  6  p.m 

July  17,  at  10  p.m 

August  28,  at  3  a.m 

September  8,  at  4  a.m 

October  25,  at  3  a.m 

November  2,  at  4  a.m 

December  2,  midnight 

January  2,  at  2  a.m 

February  11,  at  2  a.m 

March  4,  midnight 


18.3 
•  45 
157 
134 

'22.0 

•34-8 
21.3 

•45-6 

6.5 

5-9 

17.4 

14.7 

10.4 


THE  ANTARCTIC   CLIMATE 


Table  III.— Monthly  Means  (Approximate)  of  Barometric  Pressure. 


1898.  February* 

March ■ 

April 

May 

June 

July 

August 

September 

October 

November 

December 

1899.  January 

February 

Year 

*  Latter  half  of  month  only 


29.075 
29.190 
28.961 
29.382 
29.508 
29.441 
29.418 

29-351 
29.319 
29.371 

29.457 
29.422 
28.997 


29.319 


Table  IV.— Minimum  Pressures  Observed. 


REDUCED  TO  FREEZING- 
POINT. 


REDUCED  TO  FREEZING- 
POINT  AND  LAT.  45°. 


INCHES. 
28.581 
28.405 
28.195 
28.811 
28.941 
28.870 
28.241 
28.377 
28.486 
28 . 852 
29.016 

28.955 
28.350 
28.022 


1899. 


February  18,  at  6  a.m. . . 

March  22,  at  4  a.m , 

April  20,  at  3  a.m 

May  10,  at  11  p.m 

June  21,  at  i  a.m 

July  31,  at  2  a.m 

August  12,  at  4  a.m 

September  22,  at  6  a.m. . 

October  23,  at  4  a.m 

November  19,  at  3  p.m. . 
December  22,  at  10  p.m. 
January  30,  at  10  p . m. . . 
February  17,  at  11  p.m. . 
March  2,  at  3  a.m 


MM. 

INCHES. 

724  53 

•  28.526 

719.96 

28.345 

714.66 

28 . 136 

730.26 

28.751 

733  58 

28  881 

731 -77 

28.811 

715.81 

28.182 

719.29 

28.319 

722.06 

28.428 

731 -33 

28.793 

735-52 

28.958 

733  92 

28.895 

718.59 

28  292 

710.26 

27.963 

MM. 

725 -93 
721.48 
716.15 
731.78 

735  11 
733  28 

717.31 
720.77 

723 -53 
732.82 
737  01 
735-43 
720.08 
711.74 


Absolute  minimum,  711.74  mm.  =  28.022  inches. 


Table  V.  — Maximum  Pressures  Observed. 


REDUCED  TO  FREEZING- 
POINT. 


REDUCED  TO  FREEZING- 
POINT  AND   LAT.  45°. 


1898.  February  11,  at  4  p.m. . . 

March  29,  at  i  a.m 

April  26,  at  7  a.m 

May  13,  at  4  p.m 

June  II,  at  i  a.m 

July  18,  at  8  p.m 

August  29,  at  6  p.m 

September  16,  at  9  p.m. 

October  12,  at  8  a.m 

November  13,  at  4  a.m. . 
December  18,  at  5  a.m. . 

1899.  January  24,  at  8  p.m 

February  22,  at  3  a.m. . . 


755 
755 
753 
764 
770 
761 
765 
757 
764 

754 
757 
760 

751 


INCHES. 

29 -757 

29-739 
29  '  " 
30 
30 
29 

30 
29 
30 
29 
29 


29 


678 

090 
334 
983 
135 
834 
III 
688 
829 
951 
593 


MM, 

757 
756 
755 
765 
772 
763 
766 

759 
766 

755 
759 
762 

753 


95 

29 

37 

29 

90 

30 

14 

30 

10 

30 

99 

30 

31 

29 

35 

30 

58 

29 

20 

29 

-33 

30 

-17 

29 

INCHES. 
808 
802 

739 
154 
400 
044 
197 
894 
172 
748 
890 
013 
653 


Absolute  maximum,  772. 14  mm.  =  30.400  inches. 

433 


APPENDIX  No.  II 


Table  VI. —  Maximum  Variations  of  Pressure,  and  Means  of  those 

Variations. 


INCH. 


1899.    February  . . 

1898.  March 

April 

May 

June 

July 

August 

September. 
October  . . . 
November . 
December  . 

1899.  January  . . . 


35-93 


12^ 

03 > 33 -66 

823 

68, 

43-68 


23-95 


1-303 
1-397 
I -544 
1-343 
1.458 
1. 174 

1-955 
1.518 
1.686 
0.897 
0.874 
1.059 


Mean. 


34-30 


1-350 


Extreme  range  for  the  year:  772.14  — 71 1.74  =  60. 40  mm. 

30 .  400  —  28 .  022  ^  2 .  378  inches. 


Table  VII.  —  Differences  of  Monthly  Means  of  Pressure  from  the 

Mean  of  the  Year, 

The  -|-  sign  indicates  pressure  greater  than  the  mean,  the  —  sign 

pressure  less  than  the  mean. 


1899.   February  . 

1898.  March 

April 

May 

June 

July 

August 

September 
October  . . 
November 
December  , 

1899.  January  . . . 


minimum. 


- -0.063 

-0.189  )>  maximum. 

■0.122 

■0.098'^ 
- -0.031  J>2nd  minimum. 

0.000 

0.051) 

0.138  >2nd  maximum. 


I 


Table  VIII.— Table  of  Wind  Directions. 
The  figures  shoMr  the  number  of  hours  during  M^hich  the  wind  blew  from  each 

direction. 


;? 

w 

W 

ca5 

W 

C/2 

OJ 

C/2 

^ 

c/5 

1^' 

i 
^ 

i 

^ 

^ 

^2; 

'4* 

w 

W 

Xfl 

in 

ux 

^ 

^ 

';i 

Z 

1898. 

March 

14 

26 

38 

60 

68 

50 

34 

.30 

82 

22 

64 

56 

78 

22 

22 

10 

April 
May 

30 

22 

13 

27 

84 

64 

76 

59 

32 

21 

25 

20 

51 

49 

50 

f. 

100 

121 

72 

8 

17 

33 

4 

7 

9 

I 

2 

17 

65 

75 

bl 

June 
July 

14 

22 

26 

33 

34 

25 

28 

9 

24 

8 

76 

38 

191 

87 

37 

16 

22 

10 

I 

24 

72 

31 

70 

54 

28 

48 

38 

81 

48 

25 

4 

August 

32 

14 

38 

29 

26 

9 

34 

5 

19 

10 

47 

56 

141 

76 

104 

38 

Sept. 

51 

24 

74 

44 

46 

22 

28 

14 

49 

16 

47 

21 

59 

45 

24 

17 

Oct. 

47 

31 

46 

8 

45 

II 

7 

18 

41 

24 

bQ 

74 

91 

42 

83 

32 

Nov. 

.34 

35 

69 

93 

79 

32 

21 

14 

21 

31 

37 

28 

38 

28 

18 

21 

Dec. 

3 

12 

53 

92 

67 

107 

55 

16 

21 

24 

63 

58 

44 

5 

II 

7 

1899. 

Jan. 
Feb. 

8 

16 

124 

156 

104 

84 

52 

72 

20 

12 

28 

16 

8 

— 

— 

— 

32 

42 

70 

49 

III 

99 

72 

37 

22 

10 

13 

23 

35 

13 

17 

6 

387 

375 

624 

599 

705 

608 

442 

351 

394 

207 

519 

445 

882 

490 

452 

26s 

434 


THE  ANTARCTIC   CLIMATE 


Table  IX. 
Column  I  shov's  number  of  days  of  continuous  fog  or  overcast  sky. 
Column  2  shows  number  of  days  with  sky  partially  clear  for  several  hours  in  suc- 
cession (cloud  amount  30  per  cent,  or  more). 
Column  3  shows  number  of  days  on  which  fog  was  observed. 


March 

April 

May 

June 

July 

August 

September 
October  . . , 
November, 
December , 
January  . . , 
February . . 


14 
26 
27 
28 
17 
25 
14 

?i 

13 
17 

23 


Table  X. 
Column  I  shows  the  number  of  days  on  which  snow  was  recorded. 
Column  2  shows  the  number  of  days  on  which  rain  was  recorded. 


March 

April 

May 

June 

July 

August 

September 

October 

November 

December 

January 

February 

Year 


14 


Table  XI. 
Column  I  shows  the  number  of  days  of  calm,  or  of  wind  not  exceeding  force  1. 
Column  2  shows  the  number  of  days  of  wind  force  less  than  4. 


March 

April 

May 

June 

July 

August  . . . 
September 
October. . . 
November 
December. 
January... 
February  . 


435 


Appendix  No.  Ill 

THE  BATHYMETRICAL  CONDITIONS  OF 
THE   ANTARCTIC    REGIONS 

BY 

HENRYK   ARCTOWSKI 

The  scientific  work  of  the  Belgian  Antarctic  Expedition 
was  commenced  in  the  channels  of  Tierra  del  Fuego,  and 
after  the  vessel  left  the  pack  they  were  concluded  at  Punta 
Arenas.  It  is  thus  impossible  to  discuss  the  physical  geog- 
raphy of  the  antarctic  regions  in  general  without  including 
the  scientific  results  of  the  expedition  of  the  Belgica. 

The  works  of  Murray,  Neumayer,  Fricker,  and  others/ 
give  a  general  account  of  the  previous  state  of  our  know- 
ledge of  the  antarctic  regions,  and  therefore  I  prefer  to  give 
a  short  summary  of  the  results  obtained  by  the  Belgian 
Antarctic  Expedition  from  the  point  of  view  of  ocean- 
ography. 

1  G.  Neumayer,  "  Die  Erforschung  des  Siid-Polar  Gebietes."  Berlin,  1872. 

G.  Neumayer,  **  Ueber  Siidpolarforschung  "  (Report  of  the  Sixth  Inter- 
national Geographical  Congress,  London,  1895). 

Sir  John  Murray,  "  The  Renewal  of  Antarctic  Exploration  "  (**  Geograph- 
ical Journal,"  January,  1894);  and  the  "Narrative"  of  the  Challenger  Re- 
ports. 

K.  Fricker,  **  Entstehung  und  Verbreitung  des  Antarktischen  Treibeises." 
Leipzig,  1893, 

K.  Fricker,  '*  Antarktis."     Berlin,  1898. 

For  bibliography,  see  T.  Chavanne,  "  Die  Literatur  iiber  die  Polar-Regionen 
der  Erde"  (Wien,  1878);  and  the  Antarctic  Number  of  the  *♦  Scottish  Geo- 
graphical Magazine  "  (October,  1898). 


BATHYMETRICAL  CONDITIONS 

The  Belgica  had  the  advantage  of  navigating  a  region  in 
which  no  previous  bathymetric  researches  had  been  made, 
and  her  soundings  have  a  special  value   (although  their 


actual  number  was  not  great)  because  they  were  not  taken 
at  random.  On  the  voyage  from  Staten  Island  to  the 
South  Shetlands,  a  line  of  soundings  was  run  nearly  from 

437 


BATHYMETRICAL   CONDITIONS 

north  to  south,  giving  a  transverse  section  of  the  *'  antarctic 
channel  "  which  separates  the  Andes  from  one  of  the  pro- 
jecting angles  of  Murray's  hypothetical  antarctic  continent. 
In  another  place  also,  beyond  the  antarctic  circle,  and  to 
the  west  of  Alexander  I.  Land,  we  were  able  to  obtain  a 
series  of  soundings,  some  before  entering  the  ice,  the  others 
on  account  of  the  drift  of  the  vessel  when  imprisoned  in 
the  pack.  The  soundings  on  our  way  southward  are  given 
in  the  Table  as  Nos.  1-9,  and  those  taken  between  70°  and 
107°  west  as  Nos.  10-56,  while  the  results  are  represented 
chartographically  in  the  two  maps. 

The  first  map  shows  the  probable  arrangement  of  the 
depths  to  the  south  of  Cape  Horn  and  in  the  antarctic 
regions.  Soundings  Nos.  i,  2,  and  3  prove  that  south  of 
Staten  Island  the  continental  shelf  is  very  narrow,  and  ter- 
minates seaward  in  an  abrupt  slope,  the  greatest  depth 
sounded  (2209  fathoms)  lying,  in  fact,  very  near  the  island. 
To  the  east,  on  the  contrary,  the  continental  shelf  extends 
to  a  great  distance  as  Burdwood  Bank. 

Between  the  southern  versant  of  the  Andes  and  the 
mountain  system  forming  the  framework  of  the  antarctic 
lands  visited  by  the  expedition,  there  lies  a  deep,  flat-bot- 
tomed depression,  the  floor  of  which  rises  gently  towards 
the  south,  and  not  far  from  the  South  Shetlands  an  abrupt 
slope  leads  up  to  the  rocky  shallows  near  Livingstone  Island. 
The  last  sounding  taken  gave  a  depth  of  2625  fathoms  in 
56°  28'  south  and  84^  46'  west,  proving  that  the  depth 
increases  towards  the  Pacific  Ocean.  As,  on  the  contrary, 
the  Sandwich  group.  South  Georgia,  and  Shag  Rocks  He  to 
the  east,  it  seems  probable  that  this  great  basin  (called 
Barker  Basin  on  the  chart  in  the  Challenger  Reports)  does 
not  extend  to  the  east  of  these  islands.  In  a  note  on  the 
interest  which  attaches  to  the  geological  exploration  of  the 
lands  in  the  far  south,  which   I  published  in  December, 

439 


APPENDIX   No.  Ill 

1895/  I  suggested  that  "  Grahamland  is  connected  with 
Patagonia  by  a  submarine  ridge,  which  forms  a  great  arc 
extending  between  Cape  Horn  and  the  South  Shetland 
Islands,  and  that  the  tertiary  chain  of  the  Andes  reappears 
in  Grahamland."  I  maintain  this  hypothesis,  which  de- 
mands for  its  satisfactory  demonstration  not  only  the  geo- 
logical study  of  the  land,  but  also  and  chiefly  a  detailed 
bathymetrical  map.  The  first  step  to  this  end  has  now 
been  made. 

The  second  map,  showing  soundings  in  the  pack,  is  on  a 
larger  scale  than  the  first,  and  shows  the  distribution  of 
the  soundings  to  the  west  of  the  land,  and  within  the  ant- 
arctic circle.  It  clearly  demonstrates  the  presence  of  a  con- 
tinental shelf.  The  section  along  the  line  AB  is  extremely 
characteristic,  showing  distinctly  that  the  submarine  slope 
is  discontinuous.  The  submerged  bank,  which  terminates 
abruptly  towards  the  ocean,  has  depths  of  from  200  to  300 
fathoms,  and  farther  south  the  depths  are  probably  still 
less.  I  shall  not  discuss  the  configuration  of  this  submarine 
elevation  as  one  might  imagine  it  to  be  from  the  sound- 
ings taken  upon  it,  for  the  soundings  are  not  numerous 
enough  for  this  to  be  done  profitably.  But  I  cannot  re- 
frain from  calling  attention  to  one  point  which  seems  to 
me  of  great  importance.  The  edge  of  the  plateau  is  indi- 
cated by  the  isobath  of  300  fathoms,  beyond  which  the 
depths  increase  very  rapidly.  Now,  it  is  the  lOO-fathom 
line  which  is  generally  accepted  as  the  limit  of  the  con- 
tinental shelf,  and  it  would  appear  possible  that  in  the 
antarctic  regions  the  continental  shelf  had  been  submerged. 
The  discussion  of  this  interesting  question  would,  however, 
lead  us  too  far. 

It  is  noteworthy  that  the  soundings  carried  out  by  the 
Erebus  and  Terror  to  the  east  of  Victorialand,  and  north 

1  Bull.  Soc.  Gdol.  de  France  [3] ,  xxiii,  p.  589. 
440 


BATHYMETRICAL   CONDITIONS 


of  the  ice-barrier  discovered  by  Ross,  also  indicate  the 
existence  of  a  continental  shelf  with  much  greater  depths 
to  the  north.  Between  the  two  there  still  remains  a  space 
of  60°  of  longitude  to  explore  before  one  can  say  whether 
they  are  connected. 

All  the  positions  were  fixed  by  M.  Lecointe,  and  I  am 
indebted  to  the  kindness  of  this  accomplished  astronomer 


METHOD    OF  SOUNDING 


for  the  exact  place  of  each  sounding.  The  sounding-ma- 
chine of  the  Belgica  was  constructed  by  L'e  Blanc  at  Paris, 
and  is  similar  to  that  employed  on  the  Pola  by  the  Austrian 
expedition.  During  the  wmtenng  in  the  ice,  M.  de  Ger- 
lache  had  a  simple  but  effective  arnangement  constructed 
on  board,  which  was  fitted  up  on  the  ice  close  to  the  ship, 
and  only  required  a  hole  to  be  cut  in  order  to  allow  a 
sounding  to  be  made  It  consisted  of  a  wooden  drum 
carrying  the  sounding-wire,  a  brake  consisting  of  a  cord 
and  a  strong  piece  of  wood  serving  as  a  lever  to  regulate 
the  descent  of  the  weight,  and  two  cranks  on  the  axle  of 

441 


APPENDIX  No.  Ill 

the  drum  to  heave  in  the  wire.  A  wheel  of  one  metre  in 
circumference,  with  a  counter  from  the  Le  Blanc  machine, 
allowed  the  depth  to  be  read  off.  The  line  ran  through  a 
block  attached  by  a  dynamometer  to  three  poles  arranged 
as  a  tripod.  The  soundings  and  temperature  observations 
were  laborious,  and  it  is  due  to  the  co-operation  of  MM. 
Amundsen,  Tollefsen,  Johansen,  Melaerts,  Van  Ryssel- 
berghe,  and  of  M.  de  Gerlache  himself,  that  it  has  been 
made  possible  for  me  to  write  these  notes  on  the  bathy- 
metrical  conditions  of  the  antarctic  regions. 

TABLE  OF  SOUNDINGS. 


Date. 

Depth 
IN  Metres. 

Fathoms. 

Latitude. 

Longitude 
West. 

No. 

1898. 

0  / 

0  / 

Jan.  14 

296 

162 

54  51 

63  37 

1 

"  14 

1564 

855 

55  3 

63  29 

2 

"  IS 

4040 

2209 

55  51 

63  19 

3 

••  16 

3850 

2105 

56  49 

6430 

4 

"   18 

3800 

2078 

5958 

63  12 

"   19 

3690 

2018 

61  5 

63  4 

6 

"  20 

2900 

1586 

62  2 

6x  58 

7 

"  20 

1880 

1028 

62  II 

61  37 

8 

"  28 

62s 

342 

64  23 

62  2 

9 

Feb.  16 

135 

74 

67  59 

7040 

10 

"     19 

480 

262 

69  6 

78  21 

II 

"  23 

565 

309 

6946 

81  8 

12 

"  24 

510 

279 

69  31 

81  31 

13 

••  25 

2700 

1476 

69  17 

82  25 

14 

"     27 

2600 

1422 

69  24 

8439 

IS 

••  27 

1730 

946 

69  41 

8443 

16 

Mar.  I 

570 

312 

71  6 

85  23 

17 

"   I 

520 

284 

71  17 

8543 

18 

"   2 

460 

251 

71  31 

85  16 

19 

"   4 

S30 

290 

71  22 

8455 

20 

"   5 

520 

284 

71  19 

85  29 

21 

"   9 

554 

303 

71  23 

85  33 

22 

"  20 

390 

213 

71  35 

88  2 

23 

April  22 

480 

262 

71  2 

92  3 

24 

"  26 

410 

224 

70  so 

92  22 

25 

May  4 

1 150 

70  33 

89  22 

26 

"   20 

435 

238 

71  16 

8738 

27 

"   26 

436 

238 

71  13 

87  44 

28 

Sept.  2 

502 

274 

70  0 

8245 

29 

"   9 

Sio 

279 

69  51 

82  36 

30 

"  14 

480 

262 

69  53 

83  4 

31 

"  22 

485 

265 

70  23 

82  31 

32 

"  26 

485 

265 

70  21 

82  52 

33 

"  29 

480 

262 

70  21 

82  39 

34 

Oct.   7 

480 

262 

70  30 

82  48 

"   16 

532 

291 

69  59 

8054 

36 

442 


BATHYMETRICAL  CONDITIONS 


TABLE  OF  SOUNDINGS.  — (•CoKtfKKfrf. J 


Date. 

Depth 
IN  Metres. 

Fathoms. 

Latitude. 

Longitude 
West. 

No. 

1898. 

0   ' 

0   / 

Oct.  19 

580 

317 

70  I 

81  45 

37 

"   24 

537 

294 

6943 

80  SI 

38 

Nov.  2 

518 

283 

6951 

81  24 

39 

10 

490 

268 

70  9 

82  35 

40 

"   28 

251 

70  20 

8323 

41 

Dec.  20 

569 

3" 

70  15 

84  6 

42 

"   22 

64S 

253 

70  19 

8451 

43 

"   27 

630 

344 

70  20 

85  52 

44 

"   29 

660 

361 

70  IS 

85  51 

45 

..   31 

950 

519 

70  I 

85  20 

46 

1899. 

Jan.   2 

1360 

744 

6952 

85  13 

47 

4 

1470 

804 

6950 

85  12 

48 

J\        7 

1490 

81S 

6952 

85  32 

49 

Feb.  10 

1 166 

638 

7034 

93  17 

50 

J'   ^9 

1740 

951 

70  30 

94  12 

51 

Mar.  2 

430 

235 

7053 

97  17 

52 

5 

425 

232 

70  51 

97  57 

53 

"   12 

564 

308 

70  56 

100  18 

54 

"   13 

"95 

653 

70  so 

102  14 

55 

"   23 

4800 

2625 

56  28 

8446 

56 

443 


Appendix    No.  IV 

NAUTICAL   POSITIONS   AND    MAGNETIC 
DEDUCTIONS 

BY 

CAPTAIN  GEORGES  LECOINTE 


Dates. 

Local  Time. 

Latitude 
South. 

Longitude 

West  of 

Greenwich. 

Tempera. 
TURK  Cen- 
tigrade. 

Declina- 
tion. 

Inclina- 
tion. 

an.    2 

5.30  p.m. 

69°  52'  00" 

8s°i3'3o" 

—  1.6 

34.22 

68.27 

an.    7 

9  a.m. 

69°  52'  00" 

8s°  32;  15'' 

—  2.8 

34-21 

68.27 

'an,  14 

12  m. 

54°  so'  40" 

6303900^ 

an.  14 

5  p.m. 

55°  02'  so" 

63°  29  IS 

an.  IS 

12  m. 

55°  50' 45" 

630  i^/  15V 

an.  16 

12  m. 

56°  47'  30" 

64°  23' 45" 

an.  16 

5  p.m. 

56°  48'  45" 

64°  30' 30" 

an.  17 

5  p.m. 

58°  43'  30" 

63°  43' 15" 

an.  18 

12  ni. 

59°  58'  IS" 

630  12'  IS" 

an.  19 

12  m. 

61°  05'  30" 

630  04'  IS" 

an.  20 

12  m. 

62°  02'  IS" 

61°  s8'  is" 

an.  20 

4  p.m. 

62°  11'  00" 

610  3/  IS" 

an.  23 

12  m. 

63°  28'  30" 

62°  13'  00" 

an.  24 

12  m. 

64°  09'  00" 

62°  13'  00" 

an.  25 

10  a.m. 

64°  06  24" 

61°  S9'  30" 

an.  25 

3  p.m. 

63°  57  04" 

?^o<34;; 

an.  27 

7  a.m. 

64°  02  26" 

61°  3S'  20" 

an.  27 

12  m. 

64°  09  00" 

6i0  3s'2o" 

; 

an.  28 

8  a.m. 

640  22'  4S" 

62°  02'  is" 

an.  30 

8  a.m. 

64°  31'  15" 

620  2I'4S" 

'^eb.    5 

12  m. 

64°  27'  45" 

62O2/45" 

Feb.    8 

12  m. 

640  38'  00" 

62O2/4S" 

Feb.    9 

7  a.m. 

64°  47'  IS" 

630  29;  2S" 

Feb.    9 

12  m. 

64°  54'  23" 

63°  39  10 

—  2. 

38.20 

70.09 

Feb.  lo 

8  a.m. 
7.15  to  8  p.m. 
8  to  8.30p.m. 

8  p.m. 

70°  33'  45" 

93°  1/  00" 

—  6.8 

—  4-5 

—  4-5 

—  4.5 

38.20 

70.30 
70.14 
70.22 
70.27 

Feb.  II 

9  a.m. 

65°  04'  25" 

630  go'  is" 

Feb.  12 

10  a.m. 

65°  01'  30" 

63°  49' 25" 

Feb.  i6 

12  m. 

67°  58' IS" 

70°  03'  is" 

Feb.  i8 

4  p.m. 

67°  59' 30" 

70°  39' 30" 

Feb.  19 

12  m. 

69°  06'  IS" 

78°  21'  30" 

—  0.8 

39.16 

70.07 

Feb.  23 

9  p.m. 

69°  48' 45" 

81°  08'  30" 

444 


OBSERVATIONS   BY   LECOINTE 


Dates. 

Local  Time. 

Latitude 
South. 

Longitude 

West  of 

Greenwich. 

Tempera- 
ture Cen- 
tigrade. 

Declina- 
tion. 

Inclina- 
tion. 

Feb.  23 

12  m. 

69°  46'  30" 

81°  08'  30" 

Feb.  24 

12  m. 

69°  30'  30" 

K^KK 

Feb.  25 

3P-m. 

69°  17'  00" 

K^<K 

Feb.  26 

12  m. 

69°  13'  30" 

82°  20'  30" 

Feb.  27 

12  m. 

69°  24'  00" 

84°  39'  15;; 

Feb.  27 

5  p.m. 

69°  40'  45" 

840  42'30" 

Feb.  28 

12  m. 

70°  23'  00" 

85°  56' 45'; 

Mar.    I 

8  a.m. 

71°  06' 00" 

85°  22    45 

Mar.    I 

12  m. 

71°  04'  45" 

85°  22  45 

Mar.    I 

4  p.m. 

71°  17'  00" 

850  26'  00" 

Mar.    2 

12  m. 

71°  31'  15 

85°  15' 45;; 

-1-    0.6 
-|-    0.2 

40.41 

71.17 

Mar.    2 

3.30  p.m. 

970  16  15 

40.32 

71.15 

Mar.    3 

12  m. 

71°  28'  00" 

85°  11'  15" 

35  10 

Mar.    4 

12  ra. 

71°  22'  15" 

84°  54;  45;; 

+  10.4 

41.07 

71.17 

Mar.    5 

12  m. 

71°  19'  00" 

850  28'  30" 

Mar.    6 

4  p.m. 

71°  18'  30" 

85°  34' 45" 

-    6,7 

71.32 

Mar.    7 

12  m. 

71°  26'  30" 

!5°44;°«;; 

Mar.    7 

9  p.m. 

71°  29'  15" 

85°  55' 15" 

Mar.    8 

4  p.m. 

71°  28'  30" 

85°  54' 30; 

Mar.    9 

12  m. 

71°  23'  00" 

85°  32' 00" 

Mar.  II 

12  m. 

71°  23'  15" 

85°  38' 30" 

Mar.  12 

12  m. 

71°  24'  45" 

85°  S3  15 

—  12.5 

41.47 

71.56 

Mar.  13 

12  m. 

71°  19'  15" 

86°  02'  15" 

Mar.  14 

4  p.m. 

71°  16'  15" 

85°  3/ 00" 

Mar.  15 

12  m. 

70°  52'  15'' 

85°  3/ 00;; 

Mar.  20 

3  p.m. 

71°  35'  00" 

88°  02'  00" 

Mar.  23 

12  m. 

71°  34' 45" 

88°  50' 45" 

—  13.2 

38.56 

Mar.  24 

12  m. 

71°  35'  15" 

88°  50' 45" 

Mar.  25 

12  m. 

71°  24'  15" 

88°  32'  00" 

Mar.  26 

12  m. 

71°  19' 45' 

88°  23'  00" 

Mar.  27 

12  m. 

71°  16'  30" 

88°  23'  00" 

Mar.  28 

12  m. 

7i°i3'cx>" 

88°  23'  15" 

Mar.  30 

8  a.m. 

71°  13' 00" 

88°  06'  15" 

Apr.    2 

12  m. 

71°  09' 30;; 

88°  06'  15" 

Apr.    3 

12  m. 

71°  07'  03" 

88°  06'  15" 

Apr.    5 

12  m. 

710  04'  15;; 

88°  06'  15" 

Apr.    7 

7  p.m. 

70°  54  45 

88°  42'  00" 

Apr.    8 

12  m. 

70°  53'  04" 

88°  42'  00" 

Apr.  10 

12  m. 

7°°  52' 04;; 

88°  42'  00" 

Apr.  II 

12  m. 

70°  48'  15' 

88°  42'  00" 

Apr.  21 

12  m. 

71°  03'  18" 

88°  42'  00" 

Apr.  21 

8  p.m. 

71°  02'  00" 

92°  03' 15" 

Apr.  22 

a  p.m. 

Apr.  25 

10  p.m. 

70°  50'  15" 

92°  21'  30" 

—  24-S 

36.51 

Apr.  26 

8  a.m. 

Apr.  30 
May    4 

10  p.m. 

70°  43' 30" 

90°  30' 45" 

7  a.m. 

70°  33' 30" 

89°  22'  00" 

May    5 

II  a.m. 

May  10 

II  a.m. 

May  16 

4  p.m. 

710  34'  30;; 

89°  10'  00" 

May  17 

7  p.m. 

71°  22'  00" 

88°  39' 49'' 

May  18 

8  p.m. 

71°  1/45;; 

88°  02'  15" 

May  20 

7  p.m. 

71°  15  45 

87°  38' IS" 

May  21 

8  p.m. 

0  15/ 1^// 

87°  26'  30" 

May  25 

7  p.m. 

71°  13'  15" 

87°  44' 00" 

May  26 

II  a.m. 

May  26 

7  p.m. 

71°  IS' 00" 

87°  39'  IS" 

May  29 

7  p.m. 

71°  23;  45'' 

87°  35' 00" 

—  25. 

70.07 

May  31 

7  a.m. 

710  36'  00" 

87°  38'  30" 

—  9- 

70.14 

445 


APPENDIX   No.  IV 


Dates. 

Local  Time. 

Latitude 
South. 

Longitude 

West  of 

Greenwich. 

Tempera- 
ture Cen- 
tigrade. 

Declina- 
tion. 

Inclina- 
tion. 

,  une    I 

7  p.m. 

71°  25'  15" 

86°  55  15" 

1  une    2 

10.30  a.m. 

71°  25'  IS" 

86°  55'  15" 

-28.1 

69.38 

,  une   3 

7  p.m. 

71°  23'  00" 

87°  22'  is; 

-27.4 

69.18 

^  une    7 

7  p.m.. 

71°  23'  30'; 

86°  SS'  15 

.  une    8 

7  p.m. 

71°  21'  30' 

87°  so'  00" 

'  une  lo 

7  p.m. 

71°  20'  00" 

870  16'  00" 

]  une  14 

5  p.m. 

71°  04'  00" 

86^  03'  oo'' 

—  27.1 

35-34 

69.02 

.  una  15 

9  p.m. 

71°  04'  00" 

86°  30'  45" 

,  une  22 

8  a.m. 

70°  56'  15'' 

83°  30'  15 ' 

-27.2 

34  04 

68.09 

,  une  22 

8  p.m. 

70°  56' 15" 

83°  30'  00" 

"  une  23 

7  p.m. 

70°  47  45' 

83°  43'  45;, 

"  ^ly  7 

II  p.m. 

70°  51'  00" 

86°  4/ 15" 

;uly    8 

9  p.m. 

70°  48'  30" 

87°  14'  00" 

,uly    9 

9  p.m. 

70°  54'  15" 

88°  19'  00" 

-32.6 

3704 

69.  IS 

_  uly  21 

3  p.m. 

70°  35'  15" 

86°  34'  15" 

—  29-3 

35  38 

69.23 

Aug.  10 

7  p.m. 

70°  52  30' 

86°  33'  30" 

Aug.  19 

7  p.m. 

70°  26'  00" 

84°  26  15" 

Aug.  20 

6  p.m. 

70°  72;  15" 

84°  03' 30' 

Aug.  22 

6  p.m. 

70°  09'  15" 

83°  41'  15" 

Aug.  24 

6  p.m. 

70°  15'  30" 

83°  15'  15" 

Aug.  26 

7  p.m. 

700  16'  00" 

83°  15'  00" 

Aug.  27 

12  m. 

70°  16'  00" 

83°  IS' 00" 

Aug.  29 

7  p.m. 

70°  13'  15" 

83°  26  45" 

Aug.  31 

7  p.m. 

70°  04' 30; 

83°  06'  30" 

Sept.    2 

7  p.m. 

70°  00  15'; 

82°  45'  00" 

—  23. 

33  13 

68.38 

Sept.    2 

8.40  p.m. 

70°  00'  15" 

—  23s 

33  19 

67.16 

Sept.    3 

II  a.m. 

69°  58' 45" 

82°  38'  45" 

—  15-6 

33-28 

67.52 

Sept.    4 

2  to  3  p.m. 

3  p.m. 
4.30  p.m. 

—  20. 5 
-20.5 

—  20.3 

68.09 
68.07 
67.45 

Sept.    5 

7  p.m. 

69°  59' 16;; 

82°  43' 45" 

Sept.    7 

12  m. 

69°  53'  45" 

Sept.    7 

7  p.m. 

69°  54;  00;; 

82°  35'  IS" 

—  33-3 

33  06 

67.45 

Sept.    8 

7  p.m. 

69°  53'  45" 

82°  38'  30" 

Sept.    9 

7  p.m. 

690  51'  oo'- 

82°  36'  15" 

-38.5 

33- II 

68.23 

Sopt.    9 

4.30  p.m. 

—  32.2 

68.16 

Sept.  10 

7  p.m. 

69°  SI' 45" 

82°  40'  45" 

Sept.  II 

12  m. 

69°  51'  30" 

32°  40' 45" 

Sept.  13 

7  p.m. 

69°  50' 15' 

83°  03'  00" 

—  32.7 

33  17 

67.58 

Sept.  14 

I  p.m. 

69°  53'  00" 

830  03/  30./ 

Sept.  14 

6  p.m. 

69°  55' 30" 

83°  04' 15" 

Sept.  16 

7  p.m. 

69°  51'  15" 

82°  22'  45" 

Sept.  22 

3  p.m. 

70°  22;  45" 

82°  31'  00" 

-  4-8 

33  40 

68.13 

Sept.  23 

4  p.m. 

70°  24' 30" 

82°  3/  00" 

—  131 

33-45 

67.56 

Sept.  26 

12  m. 

70°  21'  15" 

82°  52'  15" 

—  15.2 

33  58 

68.06 

Sept.  26 

3-45  p.m. 

—  15-2 

68.07 

Sept.  29 

12  m. 

2.30  to  3.30 

p.m. 

70°  21'  00" 

82°  39'  00" 

—  21.5 

—  18. 1 

33-45 

68.10 
68.22 

Oct.    6 

12  m. 

70°  38'  30" 

82°  39'  00' 

Oct.    7 

12  m. 

70°  30'  30" 

82°  48'  00" 

—  14-5 

3342 

68.20 

Oct.    8 

12  m. 

70°  23' 30'' 

82°  46'  45" 

—  15.1 

33  12 

68.17 

Oct.  10 

12  m. 

70°  09'  is' 

82°  42'  30" 

—  6.2 

33  29 

68.02 

Oct.  16 

12  m. 

690  59'oo" 

80°  54'  IS" 

—  6.0 

33  16 

67.40 

Oct.  19 

5  p.m. 

70°  01'  30" 

80°  44' 45" 

Oct.  20 

12  m. 

70°  00'  30" 

80°  44' 45" 

Oct.  21 

12  m. 

69°  56'  is" 

8o°44'45" 

Oct.  22 

8  a.m. 

69°  55'  00" 

80°  ii'  00" 

—  16. 

32.11 

67.22 

Oct.  23 

12  m. 

69°  50' 15" 

446 


OBSERVATIONS   BY   LECOINTE 


Dates. 

Local  Time. 

Latitude 
South. 

Lonc-.itudk 

West  of 

Greenwic   . 

Tempera- 
ture Cen- 
tigrade. 

Declina- 
tion. 

Inclina- 
tion. 

Oct.  24 

12  m. 

69°  43;  00;; 

80°  50' 30'; 

—  19-3 

32.00 

67.32 

Oct.  25 

12  m. 

69°  38' 45" 

80°  36'  30" 

—  19.8 

31 SS 

67  13 

Oct.  28 

12  m. 

69°  39'  30" 

80°  36'  30" 

Oct.  29 

12  m. 
II  a.m. 

690  38'  00" 

8o0  35'3o" 

—  15-7 

—  12. 

31  SO 

67-37 
67.22 

Oct.  30 

12  m. 

69°  44;  45;; 

80°  35;  30;; 

Nov.    2 

12  m. 

69°  51'  00" 

81°  26'  00" 

—  13.0 

32.21 

68.22 

Nov.    2 

4  p.m. 

69°  51' 15" 

81°  23'  45'; 

Nov.    3 

12  m. 

690  48'  15" 

81°  19'  00" 

Nov.    3 

SP-m. 

69O4/00" 

81°  20'  00" 

Nov.    5 

12  m. 

690  48'30" 

81°  20'  00" 

Nov.    5 

SPm. 

69°  44' 00;; 

81°  28'  15" 

Nov.  10 

5  P-m- 

70°  09'  00" 

82°  35'  15" 

—  13.0 

32.21 

68.17 

Nov.  17 

12  m. 

70°  05'  30" 

82°  35' 15" 

Nov,  20 

4  p.m. 

70°  06'  00" 

K^iK 

—   4-2 

3303 

68  07 

Nov.  25 

12  m. 

70°  25'  00" 

830  2/  00" 

—   2.7 

33-39 

68.40 

Nov.  26 

12  m. 

70°  23'  30" 

83°  27'  00" 

Nov.  28 

5  p.m. 

70°  19'  45" 

83°  23'  15" 

—   2.4 

33  46 

68.20 

Dec.    2 

6  p.m. 

70°  18'  00" 

83°  33'  is;; 

Dec.    6 

12  m. 

690  54'  00" 

83°  33'  IS 

Dec.    7 

6  p.m. 

69°  51'  30" 

82°48'4S 

Dec.    9 

5.45  p.m. 

69°  so' 30" 

820  4S'oo 

—    1-9 

32.51 

67.40 

Dec.  12 

5.40  p.m. 

69°  49'  15 

82°  46'  4S" 

—   31 

32 -53 

67.52 

Dec.  20 

4.30  p.m. 

70°  15'  00" 

84°  06'  15" 

—    1-4 

34  19 

68.26 

Dec.  22 

5pm. 

70°  18'  30" 

840  5i'oo;; 

—   0.9 

34-33 

68.41 

Dec.  27 

4-25  p.m. 

70°  20'  15" 

85°  52' 00 

--   2.7 
--   0.3 

34-30 

68.31 

Dec.  29 

530  P-m- 

70°  15'  00" 

85°  SI  15 

34-43 

68.35 

Dec.  31 

5.30  p.m. 

70°  01'  30" 

85°  20'  15" 

—   2.5 

34  19 

68.32 

447 


Appendix    No.  V 

THE   NAVIGATION   OF  THE  ANTARCTIC 
ICE-PACK 

BY 

ROALD  AMUNDSEN 

Profiting  by  the  accumulated  experience  of  centuries,  the 
arctic  explorers  of  our  day  have  succeeded  in  obtaining 
splendid  results.  Upon  the  lessons  drawn  from  the  experi- 
ences of  the  ill-fated  Jeannette  expedition,  Nansen,  to  a 
great  extent,  built  his  plan  of  drifting  across  the  polar  sea. 
The  construction  of  the  Fram  also  was  based  upon  ob- 
servations made  through  ages.  Peary  is  now,  with  un- 
shaken energy,  step  by  step  working  his  way  towards  the 
north  pole.  Here,  what  aid  and  support  does  he  not  derive 
from  his  predecessors,  the  English  expedition  under  Nares, 
of  1875-76,  and  especially  from  the  expedition  of  his 
countryman  Greely,  of  1881-84,  which  came  to  such  a 
tragic  end,  but  which  now  affords  the  daring  arctic  explorer 
the  most  valuable  assistance  by  the  depot  estabHshed  at 
Fort  Conger  and  Lady  Franklin  Bay !  And  Nature  herself 
lends  a  helping  hand  in  always  leaving  the  line  of  retreat 
open  to  the  arctic  explorer. 

The  antarctic  explorer,  however,  is  forced  to  work  under 
far  less  favourable  conditions.  Earlier  expeditions  have, 
indeed,  tried  to  penetrate  far  south,  but  without  leaving 
any  material  sources  of  help  for  their  successors.  The 
honour  of  the  earliest  acquaintance  with  the  antarctic  region 

448 


NAVIGATION   OF   THE   PACK-ICE 

belongs  to  James  Cook,  who,  in  1774,  reached  as  far  as  to 
70°  10'  south  latitude,  where  a  stop  was  put  to  his  progress 
by  compact  ice.  In  1823  Weddell  reached  74°  15^  south 
latitude,  and  in  1842  James  Clark  Ross  made  the  record 
of  farthest  south  when  he  arrived  at  78°  9^  5'^  south  lati- 
tude, which,  as  far  as  we  know,  still  remains  the  southern- 
most point  that  has  been  reached. 

The  unexplored  region  around  the  north  pole  only  con- 
stitutes about  five  million  square  kilometres ;  that  around 
the  south  pole  amounts  to  between  twenty-one  and  twenty- 
two  million  square  kilometres,  or  a  tract  of  land  corre- 
sponding to  more  than  double  the  size  of  Europe. 

While  we  have  already  learned  about  the  arctic  winter 
from  the  Dutchman  William  Barents,  who  passed  the  winter 
of  1596  in  Nova  Zembla,  and  from  many  subsequent  explor- 
ers, the  antarctic  winter  up  to  our  time  has  remained  but  a 
fable.  It  was  the  Belgian  Antarctic  Expedition,  led  by  the 
Belgian,  Lieutenant  Adrien  de  Gerlache,  that  brought  the 
first  information  about  the  south  polar  night,  after  spending 
the  winter  in  the  antarctic  pack-ice  west  of  Grahamland  in 
1898-99. 

Taking  part  in  this  expedition,  I  had  daily  opportunities 
to  survey  and  study  the  ice  which  for  nearly  thirteen 
months  formed  our  surroundings.  It  would  be  premature 
to  pronounce  a  decided  opinion  as  to  the  best  way  of  navi- 
gating throughout  the  entire  antarctic  region  according  to 
the  observations  here  made.  In  order  to  do  that  it  would 
be  necessary  to  have  a  thorough  knowledge  of  the  state  of 
the  ice  in  various  places.  The  knowledge  which  Ross,  and 
subsequently  Kristensen,  gained  of  the  pack-ice  north  and 
east  of  South  Victorialand,  was  widely  different  from  that 
acquired  by  us  of  the  ice  west  of  Grahamland.  Therefore, 
when  I  state  my  opinion  below  as  to  navigation  in  the  ant- 
arctic ice,  I   do    so  with  specific  regard  to  the  ice  which 

449 


APPENDIX  No.  V 

stopped  our  progress  and  held  us  prisoners  for  such  a  long 
period  of  time. 

Here  it  is,  from  the  very  start,  quite  evident  to  the  ant- 
arctic explorer  that  he  incurs  a  great  risk  by  attacking  the 
ice.  To  the  south,  as  far  as  the  eye  can  survey,  he  sees 
nothing  but  ice,  and  by  experience  he  knows  that  he  has  to 
contend  with  a  frozen  ocean,  agitated  by  storm.  If  his 
vessel  should  by  chance  be  hemmed  in,  and  possibly  crushed 
by  the  ice,  what  ways  of  escape  would  there  be  open  to 
him  ?  The  possibility  of  reaching  land  in  small,  open  boats 
he  certainly  does  not  consider  very  great.  The  chance  of 
finding  human  beings  on  new  land  possibly  to  be  discovered 
farther  south,  cut  off  from  the  rest  of  the  world  by  immense 
masses  of  ice,  appears  to  be  even  less  probable.  This  is,  I 
suppose,  the  reason  why  earlier  explorers  have  not  dared  to 
attack  the  ice  in  these  regions. 

It  was  a  northeasterly  gale  that,  on  the  28th  of  Febru- 
ary, 1898,  forced  us  through  the  ice.  Comparing  this 
ice  with  that  which  I  came  across  on  my  sealing  expe- 
ditions in  the  arctic  seas  on  the  eastern  coast  of  Green- 
land, the  difference  was  at  once  apparent.  While  we 
find  in  the  arctic  ice  channels  and  lakes  several  miles  in 
length,  formed  by  the  rapid  currents  prevailing  there,  in 
the  antarctic  ice  we  do  not  find  any  signs  of  similar  forma- 
tions. The  spaces  which  we  found  here  were  intermediate 
spaces  between  each  separate  floe  of  ice,  broken  up  by 
the  storm  and  carried  away  from  its  original  position. 

What,  above  all,  struck  me  after  being  imprisoned  in  the 
antarctic  ice  was  the  "  indolence  "  of  the  ice — that  is  to 
say,  its  stagnation  or  indisposition  to  move  within  its  own 
bounds.  That  the  entire  main  body  of  the  ice  was  in  lively 
motion  soon  became  evident  from  the  nautical  observations, 
but  the  movements  within  its  compass  were  very  slight. 
The  cause  of  this  lack  of  local  movement  of  the  ice  may^ 

450 


NAVIGATION   OF   THE   PACK-ICE 

no  doubt,  be  traced  to  the  nature  of  the  current.  That 
currents  exist  here,  as  everywhere,  is  not  to  be  doubted, 
but  they  must  be  very  insignificant,  and  are  surely  without 
any  importance  to  navigation. 

From  the  month  of  December,  1898,  up  to  March, 
1899,  easterly  winds  were  predominating,  and  these  caused 
a  very  considerable  drifting  of  the  ice.  In  the  course  of 
these  three  months  we  drifted  in  this  way  from  about  87° 
longitude  west  of  Greenwich  as  far  as  to  103°,  or  a  distance 
of  about  950  kilometres  (this  distance  is  calculated  in  a 
straight  line  on  the  seventy-first  parallel  circle).  That  this 
easterly  wind,  which  prevailed  for  such  a  length  of  time  and 
mostly  with  great  violence,  was  no  local  wind,  we  can  safely 
assume.  Its  place  of  origin  was  no  doubt  the  regions  around 
Grahamland  and  Alexander  Islands.  This  gives  me  further 
cause  to  believe  that  the  sea  along  the  western  coast  of  these 
countries  was  perfectly  navigable  during  the  months  of  Feb- 
ruary and  March,  1899.  But  there  is  no  reason  whatever  to 
suppose  that  this  is  the  case  every  year.  On  the  contrary, 
previous  expeditions  have  always  found  this  part  of  the  ant- 
arctic drift-ice  completely  closed.  We,  on  board  of  the  Bel- 
gica  in  February,  1898,  also  found  within  the  drift-ice  along 
these  countries  absolutely  no  navigable  water.  If  a  future 
expedition  were  to  choose  the  same  region  where  the  Bel- 
gica  did  its  work  for  a  field  of  investigation,  my  unqualified 
advice  to  it  would  be  to  linger  for  some  time  near  the  coast 
of  these  countries,  awaiting  a  separation  of  the  ice  from  the 
land.  What  a  great  advantage  there  would  be  in  navigat- 
ing alongshore!  Possibly  harbours  might  be  discovered, 
stations  built,  and  depots  established,  and  one  would  then 
always  have  something  to  depend  on.  During  our  drift  in 
the  ice  we  never  dared  venture  on  foot  so  far  out  as  to  lose 
sight  of  our  ship.  It  would  be  wholly  different  if  there  were 
regular  stations  from  which  to  start  the  work.     We  could 


APPENDIX   No.  V 

then  safely  proceed  southward  with  a  sleigh-boat  and  pos- 
sibly accomplish  fine  results,  for  the  antarctic  ice,  compared 
to  the  arctic  ice  which  I  have  had  a  chance  to  observe,  is 
much  more  level  and  even,  and  consequently  easier  to 
traverse, 

I  see  a  great  advantage  in  having  two  vessels,  but  in 
that  case  it  is  necessary  that  both  of  them  should  be  exactly 
on  the  same  level  in  regard  to  power  and  outfit,  as,  in  my 
opinion,  the  idea  of  taking  along  a  so-called  "  auxihary 
vessel,"  which  in  some  respect  or  other  is  inferior  to  the 
principal  ship,  is  to  be  entirely  rejected.  The  principal 
ship,  in  that  case,  might  sometimes  have  to  perform  the 
duty  of  a  tugboat  and  take  the  auxihary  vessel  in  tow. 
In  order  that  two  vessels  of  this  kind  should  be  able  to 
make  any  headway  in  the  drift-ice,  they  would  always 
have  to  be  within  sight  of  each  other,  and  one  of  them 
being  inferior  to  the  other,  it  is  easy  to  understand  that  it 
would  be  more  of  a  hindrance  than  a  help.  It  would  be 
altogether  different  if  we  could  start  our  work  from  regular 
stations.  Then  one  vessel  might  be  stationed  on  the  coast 
as  a  reserve  ship  while  the  other  pressed  onward ;  but  as 
long  as  our  knowledge  of  the  antarctic  regions  remains  so 
insignificant  as  at  present,  we  must,  in  order  to  work  with 
expectation  of  success,  employ  only  first-class  equipment, 
which  by  experience  has  been  proved  effective. 

The  Belgica  entering  the  antarctic  pack-ice  was  the  first 
ship  to  make  the  venture  on  this  side  of  the  globe.  Almost 
nothing  was  previously  known  about  the  character  of  the 
ice  of  this  region.      Now  the  situation  is  entirely  changed. 

The  ice  has  been  tried  and  examined,  and  observations 
have  been  made  which  may  prove  of  invaluable  service  to 
future  expeditions. 


452 


Appendix   No.  VI 

THE  POSSIBILITIES   OF  ANTARCTIC 
EXPLORATION 

BY 

FREDERICK  A.   COOK,   M,  D. 


The  heterogeneous  branches 
of   human  knowledge  are  so 
intimately  interwoven  that  it 
is   hard    co    conceive   an  im- 
provement in  one  which  does 
not  cbnduce  to  the  advan- 
tage of  others.     The  modes 
of     association     which 
exist  between  the  nu- 
merous objects  of  men- 
tal   and    physical    re- 
Sledge-sailing.  ^^^^^j^     ^^^     U^^     ^j^^ 

membranes  which  embrace  the  humours  of  the  eye,  so 
minute  and  transparent  that,  while  they  give  union  and 
solidity. to  the  whole,  they  themselves  remain  unperceived 
or  wholly  invisible.  The  general  advancement  in  the 
knowledge  of  our  globe,  which  follows  the  work  of  polar 
exploration,  is  not  at  first  perceived.  The  collective  results 
are  rearranged  and  interwoven  with  the  other  threads  which 
go  to  make  up  the  fabric  of  the  various  branches  of  natural 
science.  Around  the  two  poles  of  the  earth,  and  particu- 
larly around  the  south  pole,  there  are  extensive  unknown 


453 


APPENDIX  No.  VI 

regions.  In  these  regions  are  hidden  the  finishing  fila- 
ments of  much  exact  knowledge.  To  seek  these  is  the  true 
object  of  polar  exploration. 

Efforts  at  clearing  up  the  mysteries  of  the  arctic  will 
now  for  a  time  give  place  to  projects  for  antarctic  research. 
The  disputed  questions,  bearing  upon  the  value  of  such 
enterprises,  have  been  answered  in  the  affirmative  by  the 
Belgian,  the  British,  and  the  German  governments.  Each 
of  these  governments  has  contributed  large  funds,  not  to 
find  the  south  pole,  but  to  gather  the  ends  of  the  threads 
of  science  which  are  there  lost  in  white  obscurity. 

The  possibilities  of  exploration  in  the  far  south  are 
many,  and  properly  to  understand  them  we  must  first 
review  the  regions  actually  known.  Perhaps  it  is  not  cor- 
rect to  say  that  anything  antarctic  is  actually  known. 
Almost  the  entire  space  beyond  the  polar  circle,  with  the 
exception  of  a  few  dotted  Hnes,  is  a  blank  upon  our  charts. 
Even  the  sub-antarctic  lands,  like  Tierra  del  Fuego,  Ker- 
guelen,  and  the  Auckland  Islands,  are  for  scientific  purposes 
unknown.  Of  the  truly  antarctic  lands  the  first  in  time  of 
discovery  and  in  value  is  the  always  accessible  land-mass 
south  of  the  South  Shetland  Islands,  which  is  erroneously 
charted  Grahamland. 

This  is  a  large  mass  of  land  which  is  labelled  on  the 
various  charts  with  different  names,  and  is  parcelled  out  to 
suit  the  nationality  of  the  chart-makers.  No  navigator  will 
be  able  to  recognise  the  landmarks  of  Grahamland  from 
any  modern  chart.  This  was  the  experience  of  the  Belgica. 
The  American  sealer.  Palmer,  first  saw  the  northern  outline 
of  this  land.  The  British  sealer,  Biscoe,  saw  a  part  of  the 
western  border  of  the  same  land.  But  neither  Palmer  nor 
Biscoe  has  given  sufficient  information  to  make  a  chart. 
The  British  explorer,  James  Ross,  and  the  French  explorer, 
d'Urville,  touched  along  the  northeastern  limits,  and  re- 

454 


ANTARCTIC   POSSIBILITIES 

cently  the  Norwegian  sealer,  Larsen,  has  traced  a  part  of  the 
eastern  limits.  From  the  work  of  later  explorers,  and  the 
guesses  of  the  early  sealers,  the  present  map  is  constructed. 
But  since  the  Belgica  sailed  over  two  hundred  miles  of  this 
region  where  high  land  was  placed,  and  since  she  sailed 
over  the  regions  where  the  Biscoe  Islands  are  placed,  it  is 
evident  that  even  this,  which  is  the  best  known  of  the 
antarctic  lands,  needs  a  general  rediscovery. 

The  actual  existence  of  a  land,  corresponding  to  what  is 
charted  as  Grahamland,  is  a  matter  of  considerable  doubt. 
On  the  map  it  extends  from  the  sixty-ninth  parallel  of  lati- 
tude northward  four  hundred  miles.  Alexander  I.  Land, 
which  makes  the  southern  termination  of  this,  is  a  group  of 
islands,  and  we  saw  no  land  eastward.  The  character  of  the 
land  which  may  or  may  not  exist  between  this  and  the  newly 
discovered  Belgica  Strait  is  questionable.  It  may  be  a  con- 
tinuous land,  but,  from  the  large  indentations  which  we  saw, 
it  is  quite  as  likely  to  be  an  archipelago.  The  possibilities 
of  future  exploration  in  this  region  are  very  great.  The 
country  is  easy  of  access,  and  has  an  abundance  of  bays  and 
channels,  which  will  afford  shelter  to  exploring  vessels.  It 
offers  scientific  and  commercial  prospects  promised  by  no 
other  new  polar  region. 

Following  the  polar  circle  from  Grahamland  eastward, 
the  next  land  is  Enderbyland.  Ten  degrees  farther  another 
line  is  put  down  and  named  Kempland.  Enderbyland  was 
reported  by  Captain  Biscoe  in  183 1.  The  pack-ice  was  so 
closely  set  around  the  land  that  Biscoe  was  not  able  to  de- 
bark or  approach  within  twenty-five  miles.  So  far  as  we 
know,  he  saw  but  one  headland  to  distinguish  the  land  from 
an  iceberg. 

Kempland  was  also  inaccessible,  and  Captain  Kemp,  the 
British  sealer  who  discovered  it,  gave  on  his  return  only  a 
verbal  report.     Captain  Morrell,  an  American  sealer,  but  a 

455 


APPENDIX  No.  VI 

few  years  previous  sailed  over  an  ice-strewn  sea  about  fifty- 
miles  south  of  both  Enderbyland  and  Kempland  without 
seeing  anything  resembling  land.  This  makes  it  extremely 
probable  that  neither  Enderbyland  nor  Kempland  is  a  large 
mass  connected  with  any  other  land.  The  geographical 
problems  which  seem  to  be  indicated  here  are :  Is  this  an 
archipelago,  like  the  Palmer  Archipelago,  fronting  a  higher 
and  more  continuous  country  or  continent?  Or  is  it  an 
isolated  group  of  islands?  An  expedition  devoted  to  this 
object  and  this  only  would  add  certain  and  unique  records  to 
geographic  and  all  other  sciences. 

Following  the  polar  circle  still  farther  to  ioo°  of  east 
longitude,  and  close  to  the  circle,  there  is  another  inter- 
ruption in  the  unknown.  This  is  the  much-disputed  Wilkes- 
land.  It  is  by  far  the  largest  land-mass  in  the  entire 
antarctic  area.  The  land,  including  Victorialand,  its  better- 
known  eastern  border,  occupies  more  than  one  sixth  of  the 
circumference  of  the  globe.  It  covers  more  degrees  of 
longitude  than  the  entire  spread  of  the  United  States.  In 
a  territory  of  this  extent,  even  under  the  most  hopeless 
spread  of  snow,  would  it  not  be  strange  if  something  of 
value  and  much  of  interest  were  not  found?  It  is  not  at 
all  probable  that  the  disconnected  lines  seen  by  Wilkes  are 
a  continuous  line  of  the  continent.  These  are,  very  likely, 
off-lying  islands  which  front  a  great  continent.  We  are 
led  into  the  conviction  that  there  is  a  continent  here  by 
the  very  great  number  and  the  enormous  size  of  the  ice- 
bergs which  were  here  encountered.  But  this  conviction 
without  better  evidence  will  not,  and  ought  not  to,  satisfy 
explorers.  Wilkes  made  his  voyage  of  exploration  in  small 
vessels  which  were  not  specially  strengthened  for  ice  work. 
If  he  was  able  to  approach  the  coast  in  ordinary  ships,  a 
vessel  fitted  for  ice  navigation  will  certainly  be  able  to  get 
nearer  and  bring  back  more  definite  results. 


ANTARCTIC   POSSIBILITIES 

From  Victorialand  to  Grahamland  there  is  but  one 
spot  to  interrupt  the  movement  of  the  great  sea  of  restless 
ice.  This  is  Peter  Island.  It  was  discovered  by  the  Rus- 
sian explorer,  Bellingshausen,  in  1821,  and  it  has  not  been 
seen  since.  The  Belgica,  in  her  year's  drift,  came  close  to 
the  assigned  position,  but  we  saw  no  indications  of  land. 
It  would  be  interesting  to  know  if  this  island  really  exists, 
and  if  it  is  not  a  part  of  another  small  archipelago. 

Before  passing  from  the  known  to  the  possibilities  of  the 
unknown,  I  will  answer  the  business  man's  question :  "  To 
whom  do  these  lands  belong?"  It  seems  to  me  that  the 
nations  seeking  to  divide  China  and  Africa  might  turn  their 
ambitions  briefly  towards  the  antarctic.  Here  are  milHons  of 
square  miles  which  belong  to  nobody  ;  at  least,  there  are  no 
vaHd  claims  filed,  except  those  which  accrue  from  the  right 
of  discovery.  Victorialand  would  seem  to  belong  to  Eng- 
land, but  it  is  possible  for  the  United  States  to  lay  a  strong 
claim  by  right  of  extension  of  territory.  Wilkes,  the 
American  explorer,  was  the  first  to  see  and  to  chart  the 
great  masses  of  land  of  which  Victorialand  is  a  part.  The 
work  of  Ross,  though  better  in  quality,  is  supplementary 
to  that  of  Wilkes,  which  gives  the  United  States  a  priority 
claim.  There  is  also  a  small  French  claim.  There  is  in- 
deed room  for  a  future  boundary  dispute  of  the  limits  and 
claims  of  the  Americans,  English,  and  French  in  Wilkesland. 
The  British  Government  seems  to  have  no  doubt  on  this 
question,  for  twelve  years  ago  the  Queen  issued  a  grant  for 
Possession  Island,  making  Mr.  Albert  McCormick  Davis, 
of  Montreal,  colonial  governor  of  its  numerous  cities  of 
penguins,  and  giving  him  for  a  stipulated  period  a  monopoly 
of  its  guano-beds.  Mr.  Davis  never  rose  to  the  dignity  of 
being  the  first  south  polar  king.  He  was  content  with  the 
honours  of  appointment,  and  returned  his  credentials  three 
months  after  their  issue. 

457 


APPENDIX  No.  VI 


Peter  and  Alexander  islands,  and  one  or  two  islands  of 
the  Sandwich  group,  belong  to  Russia.  The  Balleny,  Bis- 
coe  and  Sandwich  groups,  as  well  as  Enderbyland  and 
Kempland,   belong  to   Great    Britain.       Grahamland,  like 


Wilkesland,  offers  many  bones  of  contention.  The  entire 
northern  coast  should  belong  to  the  United  States.  A  part 
of  the  eastern  coast,  and  a  part  of  the  still  uncharted  western 
coast,  belong  to  England.  Norway  has  a  claim  for  about 
two  hundred  miles  on  the  eastern  coast.  The  recent  discov- 
eries of  the  Belgica  give  to  Belgium  the  most  beautiful  and 
the  most  useful  body  of  water  in  the  entire  antarctic  area. 

458 


ANTARCTIC    POSSIBILITIES 

In  the  adjustment  of  these  various  claims  there  is  no  end 
of  trouble  in  store. 

It  is  generally  held  that  all  these  countries  belong  to 
nobody — indeed,  that  they  are  not  worthy  of  ownership; 
but  this  is  not  true.  The  issue  of  a  grant  for  Possession 
Island  is  an  indication  of  the  sentiment  in  England  ;  another 
indication  is  to  be  perceived  in  an  incident  which  happened 
a  few  years  ago.  The  Argentine  Government,  being  anx- 
ious to  secure  possession  of  the  South  Shetland  Islands, 
aiming  probably  to  control  the  harbours  and  the  possible 
fisheries,  made  some  preparation  to  place  there  a  lighthouse 
and  thus  take  possession  by  right  of  prior  occupation.  In 
response  to  this,  according  to  a  rumour  said  to  have  been 
based  on  official  instruction,  a  British  cruiser  was  ordered 
to  speed,  as  soon  as  the  Argentine  steamer  left  port,  to  the 
South  Shetlands  and  there  to  receive  the  Argentinos.  The 
long  period  which  has  elapsed  since  the  discovery  of  every- 
thing antarctic  weakens  the  natural  claims,  and  any  one 
who  now  takes  the  trouble  to  occupy  any  portion  of  it 
would  undoubtedly  become  the  owner.  The  man  who  sits 
on  the  southern  ice,  under  the  hellish  antarctic  storms,  long 
enough  to  make  good  his  deed,  deserves  all  there  is  under 
him,  even  if  it  proves  a  Klondike. 

I  must  beg  leave  to  differ  with  the  prevailing  opinion, 
regarding  polar  exploration,  that  there  is  no  commercial  or 
material  reward  commensurate  with  the  expenditure  of 
time  and  money.  In  the  antarctic  there  are  several  pros- 
pective industries,  and  much  of  the  future  work  has  a  direct 
bearing  upon  commerce.  There  are  seals,  penguins,  and 
whales  in  abundance  around  the  circumpolar  area.  Every 
rock  which  offers  an  accessible  beach  is  covered  with  either 
seals  or  penguins,  and  every  channel  of  open  water  between 
the  pack-ice  or  around  the  ice-sheltered  lands  is  alive  with 
whales.     Fur-seals  were  at  one  time  so  numerous  that  a 

459 


APPENDIX   No.  VI 

whole  fleet  of  American  sealers  were  engaged  in  the  hunt; 
but  the  fur-seals  are  now  nearly  extinct.  The  several 
varieties  of  antarctic  seals  have  a  coarse  coat  of  single  hair 
which  is  useless  as  a  fur ;  but  the  skin  and  oil  are  of  con- 
siderable value.  There  is  no  reason  why  a  profitable  fishery 
could  not  be  prosecuted,  like  that  off  the  coast  of  Labrador 
and  Greenland.  The  penguins  are  not  widely  known  to 
commerce,  but  their  countless  millions  will  surely  attract 
enterprise  and  yield  some  useful  product.  Already  they 
are  being  taken  at  the  Falkland  Islands  for  the  oil  they 
possess.  We  must  abandon  the  hope  that  right  whales, 
possessing  the  prized  whalebone,  exist  here  in  numbers 
sufficient  to  warrant  a  promise  of  future  whaling.  Ross 
reports  having  seen  right  whales,  but  a  diligent  search 
since  has  failed  to  confirm  this  report.  From  the  Belgica 
we  saw  no  whales  of  this  variety,  but  finback  and  bottlenose 
whales  were  seen  in  great  numbers.  These  are  small  whales 
having  no  bone  of  commercial  value,  and  a  somewhat  in- 
ferior quality  of  oil.  But  the  hunt  for  a  similar  variety  of 
whales  in  Norway  has  given  profitable  employment  to 
thousands  of  men  in  the  past  ten  years.  Whaling  and 
sealing  in  the  antarctic  cannot,  however,  be  made  to  pay 
the  enormous  expense  of  fitting  out  from  Europe  and 
North  America  for  so  distant  a  hunting-ground.  To  make 
these  industries  successful,  permanent  bases  must  be  estab- 
lished either  in  the  antarctic,  on  the  sub-antarctic  islands, 
or  in  the  southern  parts  of  South  America  or  AustraHa. 

The  guano-beds  of  Possession  Island  offer  an  enterprise 
which  seems  to  promise  certain  results.  The  guano  is  rich 
in  nitrates,  and  exists  in  quantities  sufficient  to  keep  a  fleet 
of  cargo-vessels  occupied  for  years.  There  are  strong 
possibilities  of  the  existence  of  hundreds  of  other  islands 
within  the  area  of  the  unknown,  loaded  with  a  similar  or 
even  a  greater  weight  of  the  fertiliser.     Such  islands  may 

460 


ANTARCTIC   POSSIBILITIES 

be  found  in  more  accessible  places,  outside  of  the  pack-ice, 
off  the  coast  of  Grahamland,  or  among  the  partly  known 
groups  such  as  the  South  Shetland,  Bouvet,  Prince  Edward, 
or  Macquarie  islands. 

The  future  for  fisheries  and  guano  industries  has  an 
appearance  of  reasonable  certainty,  but  this  is  not  true  of 
the  possible  mineral  wealth  or  of  other  revenue-bearing 
material  which  may  be  hidden  behind  the  icy  gates.  Our 
geological  knowledge  of  this  area  is  still  too  imperfect  to 
offer  even  a  guess  of  the  probable  finds  of  precious  metals 
or  gems.  Arguing  by  analogy,  the  South  Shetlands  in 
general  appearance,  and  what  little  is  known  of  the  geolog- 
ical formation,  resemble  Tierra  del  Fuego,  and  we  now  know 
that  gold  is  here  found  in  paying  quantities.  Since  these 
islands  are  an  extension  of  the  Fuegian  lands,  is  it  unrea- 
sonable to  expect  to  find  gold  here  ?  An  antarctic  Alaska 
is  by  no  means  beyond  the  future  possibiHties. 

Are  there  not  people  or  unknown  animals  in  the  regions 
around  the  south  pole?  NoveHsts  have  pictured  this 
mysterious  region  since  the  time  of  Dalrymple,  in  1760, 
with  curious  races  of  people  and  strange  forms  of  animal 
Hfe.  It  is  the  last  unexplored  expanse  on  the  globe  of 
sufficient  area  to  offer  room  for  fictitious  creations  of  new 
worlds,  and  it  will  continue  to  be  a  special  domain  for 
imaginative  writers  for  many  years.  From  the  explorations 
thus  far,  we  have  no  reason  to  hope  for  any  startling  dis- 
coveries of  human  or  other  animal  life.  Borchgrevink, 
owing  to  his  inexperience  and  hasty  conclusions,  mistook 
ordinary  penguin  tracks  for  the  footprints  of  some  large 
and  unknown  animal.  No  reliable  traces  of  either  large 
new  animals  or  human  beings  have  been  found.  The 
regions  are,  as  homes  for  adapted  people,  far  superior  to 
the  arctic  lands,  where  the  Eskimos  periodically  starve  or  live 
in  blubbery  abundance.     If  sailors  or  wild  people  were  cast 

461 


APPENDIX   No.  VI 

adrift  on  the  antarctic  shores  they  would  not  necessarily 
starve.  There  is  food  and  fuel,  and  even  clothing,  to  be 
had  from  the  seals  and  penguins  everywhere.  The  life 
would  not  be  full  of  comforts,  if  measured  by  our  standards, 
but  compared  to  Eskimo  existence  there  is  a  decided  ad- 
vantage in  life-sustaining  prospects  of  the  southern  pole — 
not  in  cHmate  or  in  the  degrees  of  cold,  but  in  the  certainty 
of  food.  People  then,  if  they  once  find  a  foothold,  might 
easily  thrive,  but  to  the  present  we  have  found  but  one 
doubtful  sign.  This  was  reported  by  Captain  Larsen,  the 
Norwegian  sealer,  in  1893.  Larsen  found  about  fifty  clay 
balls,  perched  on  pillars  of  the  same  material,  on  Seymour 
Island,  off  the  eastern  coast  of  Grahamland.  **  These,"  said 
Larsen,  '"  had  the  appearance  of  having  been  made  by 
human  hand." 

There  is  one  train  of  industries  for  which  the  antarctic 
and  sub-antarctic  regions  offer  the  best  conditions  of  the 
globe.  This  is  the  farming  of  fur-bearing  animals.  It  is 
an  industry  which  is  still  in  its  infancy,  but  the  recent  ex- 
periments upon  the  barren  Alaskan  islands  have  been 
eminently  successful.  There  are  thousands  of  isolated 
islands  in  the  southern  oceans  which  offer  just  the  condi- 
tions for  the  cultivation  of  such  life.  These  islands,  though 
almost  barren  of  vegetable  life,  are  fertile  with  birds  and 
seals  and  smaller  forms  of  marine  life,  which  will  offer  food 
to  prospective  generations  of  transplanted  animals.  So 
far  as  I  know,  this  is  a  new  suggestion  to  the  future  south 
polar  possibilities,  but  the  conditions  which  I  have  seen  are 
too  favourable  to  be  ignored.  The  antarctic  lands  lie 
isolated  in  a  deserted  and  frozen  sea.  The  drift-ice  and 
the  overland  mass  of  glacial  ice  bar  the  passage  to  adven- 
turous travellers  who  seek  to  penetrate  the  mysteries  of  the 
frozen  south.  But  it  is  just  these  barriers  which  fence  the 
*'  land  of  promise  "  for  the  coming  fur-farmer,  who  is  to 

462 


ANTARCTIC    POSSIBILITIES 

take  the  place  of  the  life- destroying  hunter.  I  am  sure  that 
in  the  near  future  these  wild  wastes  of  the  antarctic,  with 
their  million  of  bird-inhabited  islands,  will  form  an  island 
empire  of  thrifty  fur-farmers.  What  nation  shall  guard  the 
interests  of  this  coming  race  of  hardy  pioneers  ? 

Independent  of  material  results,  a  continued  exploration 
of  the  antarctic  will  certainly  disclose  priceless  scientific 
acquisitions.  A  region  of  the  globe  nearly  eight  million 
square  miles  in  extent,  into  which  the  foot  of  man  has  not 
yet  trodden,  is  not  likely  to  prove  barren  of  scientific  data. 
The  polar  question  is  not  a  problem  of  adventure,  as  it  is 
ordinarily  thought  to  be,  nor  is  it  a  matter  of  dollars  and 
cents.  It  is  a  problem  of  science,  and  has  for  its  principal 
objects  an  exact  knowledge  of  the  limits  of  land  and 
water;  a  careful  study  of  the  physical  condition  of  the 
earth  and  of  the  life;  in  short,  it  aims  at  perfecting  that 
network  of  lines  with  which  comparative  science  seeks  to 
surround  our  planet  even  at  the  poles.  The  prosecution  of 
this  labour  will  add  to  our  knowledge  of  the  physical  laws 
which  regulate  climates, which  indicate  the  origin  and  destiny 
of  atmospheric  and  sea  currents,  and  which  serve  as  analogies 
for  geology  and  other  natural  sciences.  The  Gulf  Stream 
was  discovered  by  a  study  of  polar  phenomena.  Our  pres- 
ent knowledge  of  the  glacial  system,  which,  at  some  distant 
time,  covered  not  only  the  poles,  but  the  lands  we  now 
inhabit,  would  not  have  been  conceivable  without  a  know- 
ledge of  the  present  polar  ice.  Who  will  say  that  new  gems 
will  not  be  added  to  the  annals  of  science  by  antarctic 
explorers  ? 

Specifically,  terrestrial  magnetism,  geography,  meteorol- 
ogy, geology,  and  oceanography  are  to  be  most  enriched 
by  the  results  of  far  southern  exploration.  Magnetism  has 
an  important  bearing  upon  the  navigation  of  the  southern 
hemisphere,  and  even  upon  the  land  surveys.     If  the  bear- 

463 


APPENDIX   No.  VI 

ings  of  the  compass  cannot  be  accurately  deduced,  evidently 
the  course  of  a  ship  or  the  base-line  or  fixed  point  of  a 
survey  must  be  unreliable.  For  greater  accuracy  of  the 
all- important  compass,  more  continued  and  more  prolonged 
magnetic  observations  in  various  parts  of  the  antarctic  are 
indispensable.  Even  the  seemingly  simple  task  of  fixing  by 
calculation  the  location  of  the  south  magnetic  pole  is,  with 
our  present  knowledge,  impossible.  The  positions  assigned 
by  the  best  authorities  differ  several  hundred  miles  from 
each  other,  and  the  work  of  the  Belgica  placed  it  approxi- 
mately two  hundred  miles  east  of  the  spot  designated  by 
Ross,  whose  observations  have  been  generally  accepted. 

Closely  associated  with  the  magnetic  pole  is  the  mysteri- 
ous phenomenon,  the  aurora  australis.  It  would  be  inter- 
esting to  have  a  prolonged  series  of  auroral  observations  to 
add  to  the  first  records  taken  by  the  Belgica.  Perhaps  this 
information  would  help  to  solve  the  puzzling  questions  of  the 
physical  character  and  the  origin  of  the  mysterious  celestial 
lights.  Some  of  these  questions  are :  What  is  the  differ- 
ence between  the  aurora  australis  and  the  aurora  borealis? 
Is  there  any  coincidence  in  the  appearance  of  the  phe- 
nomena at  both  poles?  What  is  the  relation  of  the  ex- 
hibits with  the  sun-spots  ?  What  relation  have  auroras  with 
meteorological  phenomena — the  weather,  the  clouds,  the 
atmospheric  electricity  ?  What  are  the  connections  between 
auroras,  earth-magnetism,  and  telluric  currents? 

The  geographical  possibilities  have  been  indicated  in  our 
discussion  of  the  known  lands.  It  would  be  interesting  to 
know  if  the  various  traces  of  land,  so  close  to  the  polar 
circle,  are  or  are  not  connected  to  form  one  large  continent. 
What  are  the  physical  conditions  of  this  great  unknown 
area  of  land  or  sea?  Geographically,  this  is  the  only  re- 
maining unknown  expanse  of  our  globe  where  great  dis- 
coveries may  be  expected. 

464 


ANTARCTIC   POSSIBILITIES 

The  interior  south  polar  lands  are  likely  to  prove  the 
coldest  part  of  the  earth.  This  is  contrary  to  what  might 
be  expected,  because  the  great  circular  sea  which  surrounds 
the  entire  globe  should  warm  the  comparatively  small  ex- 
panse of  land.  In  the  region  of  the  Belgica's  drift,  how- 
ever, the  indications  were  otherwise.  Our  position  was  in 
a  restless  sea  of  ice,  far  from  land,  with  large  open  lanes  of 
water  constantly  about  us.  It  follows,  then,  that  we  should 
have  had  a  mild  marine  climate.  But  our  temperatures 
were  persistently  low,  from  —5°  to  —45°  C,  rarely  above 
the  freezing-point.  And,  following  southerly  winds,  the 
mercury  at  once  sank  into  the  bulb.  The  suddenness  and 
intensity  of  cold  which  came  with  interior  winds  bespeaks 
a  very  high  and  a  very  cold  area.  This  question  and  a 
hundred  others  will  be  solved  by  meteorological  studies. 
Problems  of  weather  are  associated  with  neighbouring 
phenomena.  For  the  proper  understanding  of  the  climate 
of  the  southern  hemisphere  there  is  necessary  a  long-con- 
tinued series  of  meteorological  studies  within  the  limits  of 
perpetual  ice. 

In  geology  nearly  everything  remains  to  be  done.  Here 
are  indications  of  some  very  interesting  problems.  Among 
them  are  the  numerous  open  questions  of  the  great  ice  age. 
In  the  period  immediately  preceding  the  ice  age  the  polar 
regions  were  not,  as  they  are  now,  submerged  under  a  con- 
tinental sea  of  ice,  but  had  a  somewhat  profuse  growth  of 
plants,  extending  even  to  the  base  of  the  mountain  glaciers. 
The  fossil  remains  which  have  been  found  in  the  north  and 
in  the  south  prove  that  at  this  time  there  existed,  among 
these  growths,  plants  which  are  now  found  only  in  sub- 
tropical regions.  This  period  was  a  noteworthy  epoch  in 
the  history  of  our  planet.  It  was  the  time  when  man  first 
appeared,  and  it  was  the  time  when  the  earth  was  dressed 
in  her  best  mantles.     The  continents  then  had  a  greater 

465 


APPENDIX  No.  VI 

extension,  the  life  a  curious  diversity,  and  the  forests  were 
much  more  luxuriant  than  they  are  to-day.  The  antarctic 
is  likely  to  throw  new  light  upon  this  interesting  period. 
The  fossil  finds  may  establish  the  previous  existence  of  a  Hfe 
of  which  we  now  have  no  indication.  In  the  many  depart- 
ments of  geology  we  may  expect  startling  discoveries. 

To  zoology  the  south  offers  less  flowery  prospects  than  to 
the  other  sciences.  The  study  of  the  organic  life  is  important 
for  the  understanding  of  the  earlier  life  of  our  planet,  but 
some  of  this  has  been  gathered.  The  work  which  remains  to 
be  done  is  the  detail  of  anatomy  and  physiology  and  the  study 
of  microscopical  forms  of  life.  It  is  not  probable  that  there 
remain  large  animals  of  which  we  have  found  no  traces. 

Probably  the  most  important  results  of  immediate  prac- 
tical use  to  both  science  and  commerce,  will  be  the  gain  to 
the  newly  born  science,  oceanography.  The  ever-increasing 
usefulness  of  the  ocean  for  the  needs  of  modern  commerce 
or  warfare,  of  cable  service,  and  as  a  nursery  for  food,  makes 
it  necessary  that  we  know  as  much  as  possible  about  it. 
We  must  know  not  only  the  surface,  but  the  bottom  and 
intermediate  waters.  We  must  know  not  only  the  warm 
seas,  but  the  cold  as  well.  There  is  a  constant  interchange 
between  the  water  of  the  tropics  and  that  of  the  poles,  just 
as  there  is  an  interchange  of  the  winds.  The  cold,  ice-laden 
waters  have  a  tendency  to  flow  into  the  warmer  regions. 
The  overheated  torrid  waters  flow  poleward.  This  is  the 
theory,  and  in  part  it  is  supported  by  observation ;  but  what 
is  the  mechanism? 

It  is  evident  that  the  missing  keystones  to  the  rising 
arches  of  science  are  many,  and  the  material  for  some  of 
these  will  certainly  be  found  in  the  neglected  blank  around 
the  under-surface  of  our  globe.  The  reasonable  certainty 
of  these  results  is  likely  to  arouse  a  south  polar  enthusiasm 
within  a  few  years,  and  in  anticipation  of  this  I  wish  to 

466 


ANTARCTIC    POSSIBILITIES 

offer  a  preliminary  word  of  warning.  Up  to  the  present, 
antarctic  history  has  to  record  no  great  loss  of  life,  no 
awful  calamities,  like  the  arctic  tragedies.  If  due  precau- 
tion is  taken,  none  should  be  reported.  The  arctic  and 
the  antarctic  are  alike  only  in  degrees  of  cold  and  in  the 
quantities  of  ice.  Even  in  these  they  differ  somewhat,  and 
in  every  other  respect  there  is  little  resemblance.  From  this 
it  follows  that  an  antarctic  explorer  should  be  differently 
equipped  from  the  man  who  travels  in  the  far  north.  The 
hopeless  isolation  and  impossibility  of  retreat  make  a  fixed 
outline,  a  permanent  station,  and  strong  vessels  imperative. 

Should  an  expedition  risk  their  fortunes,  as  did  the  crew 
of  the  Belgicay  in  a  single  vessel,  and  in  the  unknown  drift 
lose  their  ship,  which  is  always  possible,  the  disaster  would 
mean  certain  death  for  nearly  everybody.  It  is  true  that  the 
Belgica  experienced  no  great  damage  by  pressure,  but  that 
we  escaped  with  our  vessel  is  a  matter  due  quite  as  much 
to  accident  as  to  any  wisely  prompted  construction  of  the 
ship.  If  a  field  of  ice  two  miles  in  diameter  should  press 
upon  any  vessel  in  the  wrong  situation,  it  would  certainly 
crush  her.  This  is  always  to  be  expected  in  antarctic  nav- 
igation, and  it  makes  a  companion  ship  desirable.  The 
south,  also,  is  a  hard  school  for  explorers.  Young  men 
who  wish  to  engage  in  this  work  should  take  their  school- 
ing in  the  more  congenial  arctic  regions. 

From  what  we  saw  of  the  antarctic  lands  south  of  Cape 
Horn,  it  is  clear  that  the  previously  conceived  impossibility 
of  landing  on  south  polar  lands  is  a  misconception.  The 
Belgica  made  twenty  debarkments,  and  it  was  discovered 
that  it  was  possible  to  land  on  nearly  every  island  and  neck 
of  land  offering  a  projecting  northerly  exposure.  From 
the  experiences  of  the  Belgica  it  would  seem  that  a  perma- 
nent base  of  operations  might  be  established  far  south,  either 
in  Weddell  or  in  Ross  Sea.     These  are  the  only  regions 

467 


APPENDIX   No.  VI 

offering  a  promising  route  to  the  south  pole.  The  possi- 
bilities of  reaching  it  will  depend  upon  the  character  of  the 
inland  ice.  If  it  is  a  smooth,  even  surface,  without  moun- 
tain ridges  or  extensive  crevasses,  such  as  the  interior  of 
Greenland,  and  if  this  land  ice  extends  to  the  pole,  then 
it  is  within  the  power  of  man,  with  present  means,  to  tread 
on  the  spot;  but  if  it  is  otherwise,  then  there  is  only  a 
small  prospect  of  reaching  the  southern  axis. 

In  the  future  exploration  of  the  south  polar  regions  there 
is  the  prospect  of  universal  association  which  has  long  been 
the  golden  dream  of  science.  Indeed,  just  at  present  such 
international  alliances  are  the  topics  of  the  hour.  The  final 
filaments  of  the  fabric  which  will  bind  together  the  three 
greatest  nations  of  the  earth  are  being  spun.  It  is  not  a 
triple  alliance  in  an  ordinary  sense ;  it  is  one  of  the  products 
of  the  evolution  of  nations.  It  is  a  natural  selection  of  the 
three  peoples  best  fitted  for  each  other.  England,  Germany, 
and  the  United  States  are,  at  present,  held  together  by  a  sort 
of  matrimonial  bond,  and  this  bond  must  be  strengthened. 
Could  there  be  a  more  fitting  seal  to  this  family  union  than 
a  triple  alliance  to  explore  the  last  great  unknown  area  of  the 
globe  ?  England  and  Germany  are  organising  expeditions. 
Will  Americans,  who  have  carried  the  Stars  and  Stripes  to 
the  farthest  reaches  of  the  earth,  stand  aloof  and  look  on  ? 
If  we  are  to  have  a  well-equipped  expedition,  ready  to  work 
with  England  and  Germany,  some  merchant  king  must 
come  to  our  rescue.  The  present  government  indications 
are  not  favourable  to  such  a  venture,  but  with  the  liberal 
hand  of  a  Bennett,  a  Harmsworth,  or  a  Jesup,  we  could 
work  hand  in  hand  with  the  subjects  of  the  Queen  and 
the  Kaiser.  The  combined  armies  of  peace  could,  in 
this  way,  march  into  the  white  silence,  the  unbroken,  icy 
slumber  of  centuries  about  the  south  pole,  and  there  col- 
lect the  needful  scientific  spoils. 

468 


INDEX 


INDEX 


Adelaide  Island,  impression  as  to,  164 

Agassiz,  Professor,  54 

Argentine  Republic,  offer  of,  97 

Air  charged  with  drift  snow,  258 

Alaculoofs,  98,  99 

Alarming  physical  condition,  327,  328 

Alexander  Islands,  166,  167,  186,  198 

Alexanderland,  charted  Alexander  I. 
Land,  164 

Alexanderland,  inlet  north  of,  169 

Alcohol,  90 

Alcohol,  deleterious  effect  of,  334 

Ambition,  392 

American  discovery,  remarkable  fact 
in,  23 

American  topics,  327 

Amusement,  uncomfortable,  313,  314 

Animal  hfe,  128,  132-134,  140,  141,  183, 
186,  198,  201,  210,  236,  239,  242,  243, 
248,  255,  256,  258,  260,  269,  270,  273, 
274,  277,  287,  293,  294,  313,  327,  334- 
337.  350,  356.  359.  360,  368,  369.  383. 
384.  392 

Amundsen,  Roald,  mate,  appearance 
of,  42,  127,  136,  141,  147,  158,  244; 
presence  of  mind  of,  246;  patching 
boots,  259 ;  investigates  a  light,  286, 
287,  300,  335,  349,  378;  resolve  of, 
382,  383 

Ancient  explorers,  contrast  to,  240 

Antarctic,  mainlands  of  the,  128-131 

Antarctic  midnight  past,  323 

Antarctic,  first  camping  experience  in 
the,  143 

Antarctic  pack,  striking  peculiarity  of, 
174.  175 


Antarctic  tent,  349 
differ 
131 


Antipodes,  different   surroundings  in. 


An  vers  Island,  148 
Appearances  of  land  deceptive,  272 
April  ist,  244;  2d,  245;  3d,  tempera- 
ture, 245  ;  4th,  latitude,  longitude,  and 
temperature;  sth,  246;  temperature, 
247;  6th,  247;  8th,  248;  9th,  249; 
loth,  253;  nth,  255;  i2th,  tempera- 
ture, 257,  269;  latitude  and  longi- 
tude, 270 ;  14th,  temperature,  258 ; 
15th,  258;  i6th,  258;  20th,  tempera- 


ture, 259;  21  st,  temperature,  260; 
latitude,  261 ;  22d,  temperature  and 
position,  261;  23d,  25th,  261 ;  temper- 
ature, 262,  263  ;  latitude  and  longi- 
tude, 264;  26th,  temperature  and 
sounding,  267;  28th,  temperature, 
268;  30th,  269;  latitude  and  longi- 
tude, 270 

Arc  Aurora,  242,  253,  254 

Arctic,  redeeming  features  in  the,  295 

Artificial  light,  316,  318,  367 

Arctowski,  Henryk,  geologist,  42 ;  on 
Auguste  Island,  132,  133,  136,  139, 
141,  158,  175,  181 ;  interviewed  by 
sea-leopard,  211 ;  in  the  crow's-nest, 
216;  arranging  a  new  system,  241, 
248,  280 ;  working  in  the  laboratory, 
299,  300;  saying  of,  334,  335,  336; 
on  deck,  337,  34.7 ;  record  of,  391 

Astrup  Eivind,  147 

Atmosphere,  clearness  of,  145 

Auguste  Island,  138;    landing  at,  131- 

133 
August  second,  358 
Aurora,  patches  of,  236 
Auroras,  212,   214,  225,  226,  258,   296, 

297,  324,  335,  337,  343 
Auroras,  antarctic,  average  strength  of, 

262 
Auroral  display,  238 


B 

"  Baking  treatment,"  322,  331,  336,  351 

Balaenoptera  Sibbaldi,  369 

Banquet,  Rio  Belgian,  9,  10 

Barrier,  356 

Barros,  Trudente  de  Moreas,  Presi- 
dent, 9,  13;  attempt  to  assassinate, 
28 

Bay-ice,  186 

Bay  of  Rio,  parting  view  of,  15 

Beagle  channel,  eastward  through, 
119 

Beauty  contest,  250 ;  official  record  of, 
251,  252 ;  disputes  arising  out  of,  254 

Bellingshausen,  164,  266 

Belgian  Consulate,  visitor  from,  28 


471 


INDEX 


Belgian  national  feasts,  336 
Belgians,  modesty  of,  240 

Belgica,  expedition  ship,  4-6;  on  board 
the,  13;  leaves  Rio,  16;  sleep  on  the, 
17-19;  young  bachelors  of,  36;  pur- 
chase of,  41,  42 ;  public  exhibition 
of,  44  ;  flag  of,  46,  48  ;  crowded  decks 
of,  46;  appearance  of,  50,  51;  con- 
struction, 51-53;  equipment,  53,  55; 
laboratory,  55  ;  library,  56  ;  quarters, 
56,  57;  life  on,  58;  leaves  Monte- 
video, 59,  62,  63;  through  \hQ  pam- 
pero, 64 ;  garb  for  the  south  pole,  65  ; 
Chaplain's  duties  on,  69,  70,  72,  76, 
17^  97.  98;  strikes  a  reef,  119-121, 
137;  anchoring  to  an  iceberg,  140; 
cruise  to  the_  south,  143,  154,  164, 
170;  ploughs  between  heavy  masses 
of  ice,  178,  179,  183,  187 ;  refuses  to 
mind  the  helm,  191,  192 ;  runs  before 
the  storm,  194-196,  205  ;  fear  for,  220, 
234,  240,  246, 249 ;  housing  of,  256,  257 ; 
serious  drift  of,  264,  274 ;  setding  of, 
268;  in  icefloe,  275,  278-280;  normal 
air  of,  290,  293,  296,  297 ;  in  ice-walls, 
298,  304,  306,  312;  alive  with  weird 
noises,  314,  318,  320,  333,  343;  only 
speck  of  human  life,  352 ;  position  of, 
359.  361 ;  prepared  for  sea,  369,  371, 
375 ;  injurious  effect  on,  376 ;  in  huge 
drift,  380,  381,  384,  385;  liberating 
the,  393-399.  405 

Belgica  Strait,  135 ;  position  and  land- 
marks of,  146-149;  navigation  of, 
147.  154.  192 

Belgmm,  Royal  Society  of,  406 

Bird,  a  new,  377 

Bird's-eye  view,  pictures  of,  217 

Biscoe,  Captain,  129,  147 

Birds,  resting  places  for,  141 

Bismarck  Inlet,  169 

Bismarck  Strait,  154 

Blackness,  effect  of,  281-283 

Blake,  the,  exploring  ship,  43 

Blessing,  Dr.,  321 

Blow-holes,  328 

Bon  voyage,  wishes  for,  12,  14,  16 

Borgen  Bay,  debarkments  in,  146 

Bransfield  Strait,  128,  147 

Brazilian  Coast,  16,  18,  19 

Brialmont  Bay.     See  Weddell  Sea 

Bridges,  Lucas,  Mr.,  120 

Bridges,  Thomas,  Mr.,  97 

British  explorers,  custom  of,  240 

Brooklyn  Island,  144,  148 

Brussels,  municipality  of,  406 

Brussels,  Royal  Geographical  Society 
of,  40,  406 

Buls  Bay,  141 

Bunks,  65 

Butter,  substitute  for,  61 


Calculation,  careful,  281 
Calm,  unexpected,  224 


Camping  equipments,  impracticability 

of,  274 
Camp,  site  for  a,  353 
Canal,  entering  a,  144 
Canal-making,  396-399 
Canned  foods,  disgust  with,  302,  303 
Canvas  suits  ineffective,  325 
Cape  Anna,  debarkment  at,  140,  141, 

14s 

Cape  Castillo,  22 

Cape  Eivind  Astrup,  146 

Cape  Errera,  147 

Cape  Horn,  south  of,  121-123 

Cape  Lancaster,  147 

Cape  Murray,  off",  143 

Cape  Polonio,  in  harbour  of,  21 ;  ashore 
at,  25-27 

Cape  Reclus,  rounded,  144 

Cape  Reynard,  147 

Cape  von  Sterneck,  altitude  of,  135 

Castillo  Island,  off',  20-22 

Castine,  cruiser,  32 

Cheerlessness,  319 

Chenal  de  la  Plata,  144 

Christensen,  Mr.,  42 

Christmas  in  midsummer,  385,  386 

Chronometers  regelated,  324 

Cincinnati,  cruiser,  13 

Circumpolar  ocean,  characteristic  ice 
of,  170 

Cleopatra,  the,  wreck  of,  69 

Clouds,  luminous,  270 ;  stratus  and  al- 
tro  stratus,  193 

Coaster,  Brazilian,  18,  19 

Coast,  following  the,  138 

Coast-pilot,  French,  budget  of,  72 

Colchicoli,  107 

Cockburn  Channel,  in,  94 

Coldest  period  of  the  year,  362,  363 

Cold  metal,  contact  with,  262,  263 

Cold  not  a  serious  cause  of  suffering, 
257 

Colony,  Belgian,  59 

Colours  sparingly  distributed,  184 

Cornet,  382 

Coming  of  the  night,  preparing  for  the, 
208 

Comparisons,  172,  173 

Complaints,  206,  207,  231,  330 

Conclusion,  one,  374,  375 

Constellations,  new,  17,  18 

Contrast,  weird,  196 

Cook,  Captain,  223,  266 

Cook,  Frederick  A.,  Dr.,  joins  ant- 
arctic expedition,  3-5,  7,  19,  21 ;  vol- 
unteers services  to  expedition,  47,  48 ; 
on  the  Belgica,  50;  visits  sheep  farm, 
72-76 ;  efforts  to  return  to  the  Belgica, 
76,  'j^ ;  aids  Wiencke,  127;  attempts  to 
land,  132,  133,  158;  responds  to  call, 
141, 179;  rescues  Gerlache,  189;  plans 
of,  192 ;  sleeping  on  a  floe,  212-215  .* 
views  ice-pack  from  crow's-nest,  216- 
218,  239,  243,  248;  gives  aid,  249, 
272;  impressions,  287;  literary  work, 
300;  omits  breakfast,  304,  305;  sees 


472 


INDEX 


Danco's  illness,  309 ;  birthday  of,  313, 
314 ;  experience  of,  321 ;  method  of 
treatment,  322 ;  diagnosis  of  Le- 
cointe's  case,  331 ;  treats  Lecointe, 
333,  378  ;  resolve  of,  382 ;  plans  ship's 
release,  393 
Crab-eating  seals,  229,  242,  243 
Crow's-nest,  53;  view  of  pack  from, 
216-218 


Dallman,  German  sealer,  129,  155 

Danco,  Emile,  magnetician,  42,  43,  56, 
136,  141,  142,  143,  149,  239;  unable  to 
journey  farther,  240;  building  a  hut, 
241,  259,  263 ;  contrivance  of,  273 ; 
observatory  of,  280;  illness  of,  287, 
292 ;  steadily  faihng,  296 ;  keeping  up, 
300 ;  sinking  rapidly,  303 ;  faihng,  309 ; 
death  of,  310 ;  burial  of,  311,  312,  331 

Dancoland,  137.  i43.  I44.  149-  ^74 

Darkness,  soul-despairing,  295 

Darkness,  veil  of,  276 

Darwin,  96 

Dawn,  along,  334;  shades  of  335 

Day  of  departure,  guesses  at,  378 

Day,  the  darkest,  323 

Days  and  nights,  change  in  length  ot, 
221 

Days  of  misery,  160;  rapidly  getting 
shorter,  184,  248  ;  the  darkest,  323;  of 
promise,  342,  343;  of  feasting,  343 

Debarkment,  ready  for,  29 ;  fourteenth, 

145 

December  second,  latitude  and  longi- 
tude, 378 ;  temperature,  379 ;  six- 
teenth, temperature,  381 

Deception  Island,  126,  192 

Deep-sea  creatures,  268,  269 

De  Gamboa,  Pedro  Sarmiento,  surveys 
Magellan  Strait,  83 

De  Gerlache,  Adrien,  Commandant,  4, 
S,  22;  projects  exploring  expedition, 
39;  secures  the  Belgica,  41,  42  ;  visits 
Norway,  41,  43;  sinks  financial  sup- 
port, 44;  room  of,  56,  57;  attempts  to 
land  on  Auguste  Island,  132, 133, 141, 
142, 158,  183;  inclines  to  winter  in  the 
pack,  191,  239,  244,  248,  287 ;  work  on 
ship's  log,  300 ;  order  of,  327,  335 ; 
opinion  of,  349,  372 

Departing  day,  last  signs  of,  286 

Deplorable  condition,  336 

Depth,  increase  in,  276 

Despondency,  312 

Destination,  deceptive  nearness  of,  352, 

353 
Destiny,  doubtful,  199-201 
Destruction,  threatened,  280 
Detroit  de  la  Belgica,  147 
Diet,  351 

Disc  snowshoes,  353 
Discoveries,  names  affixed  to,  131 ;  on 

the  threshold  of,  154 
Diurnal  range,  greatest,  381 


Dobrowolski,  Ass.  Meteorologist,  182 ; 
assists  Lecointe,  263,  336 

Doyle,  A.  Conan,  308 

Drake,  Francis,  Sir,  24;  through  Ma- 
gellan Strait,  83 

Dredges,  trawls  and,  54 

Drift,  209,  210,  262-266,  269,  271,  276, 
297.  315.  337.  338 ;  longitudinal,  367, 
378 

Drift-snow,  227 

Duke  de  leche,  61 


Easter  Sunday  254,  255 

Edges  of  the  fields,  difficulty  in  deter- 
mining, 363 

El  Cerro,  Mount  of,  29 

Electric  glow,  247 

Electricity,  273 

Elizabeth,  Queen,  24 

Ehzabeth  Island,  debarkment  at,  77: 
sheep-farming  on,  77,  78;  discovery 
by  Drake,  78. 

Embalmed  meats,  208,  232 

Energy  decreasing,  300 

Escapes,  narrow,  150 

Eskimo  model,  336,  337 

Evaporation,  351 

Exact  latitude,  uncertainty  of,  342 

Excursion  to  iceberg,  286-288 

Expedition,  entire  success  of,  406 

Extended  outing,  longing  for,  345 

Exercise,  334 

Expedition,  Belgian  Antarctic,  in  Rio,  4, 
6,7;  farewell  to,  12;  project  of,  40-45  ; 
feast  for,  44;  leaves  Antwerp,  45;  at 
Ostend,  46;  accepts  Dr.  Cook's  ser- 
vices, 47;  leaves  Ostend,  48,  49;  pre- 
pared for  scientific  study,  53 ;  dis- 
comforts of,  93,  96 

Expedition,  Danish  East  Greenland,  43 

Expedition,  Vega,  45 


Favourite  temperature,  297 

Feast,  subscription,  44 

February  7th,  8th,  144;  9th,  146;  12th, 
150-152;  13th,  152;  14th,  156-159; 
15th,  159;  i6th,  162;  longitude,  164; 
17th,  rate  of  speed,  167,  168;  18th, 
169;  19th,  longitude,  172;  sounding, 
175;  20th,  temperature,  177;  21st, 
t8o;  temperature  and  position,  183, 
184;  22d,  184;  temperature,  187;  23d, 
188-192;  latitude  and  longitude,  189; 
24th,  192;  25th,  temperature  and  po- 
sition, 193;  27th,  latitude  and  longi- 
tude, 193,  194;  28th,  194 

Fire,  excitement  of  a,  21,  246 

First  duty,  208 

Fishing  through  a  sounding-hole,  284 

Fish,  pelagic,  193 

Fiskabolla,  233 ;  hatred  of,  244 

Fissures,  large,  268 


473 


INDEX 


Fletcher,  Rev.  Mr. ,  notes  of,  24,  25 

Floes,  mysterious  turning  of,  210 ;  ten- 
dency of,  239;  disheartening  change 
of,  278-280 ;  grown  to  encouraging 
dimensions,  305;  protecting,  306; 
charged  with  bergs,  375 ;  lessening 
slowly,  381 

Flores  Island,  heading  for,  28 

Food,    dissatisfaction    with,     231-233, 

^  397,  398,  40s 

Force  expended,  297 

Fuegian  hfe,  studies  of,  192 

Fuegians,  the  unknown,  98 

Fuel,  necessary  to  economise,  256 

Fur  sealers,  American,  129 


Game,  difficulty  of  bringing  in,  243 
Gaston  Islands,  138 
Geographical  problems  proven,  265 
Giant  petrels,  222,  223 
Glaciers,  124 
Gold-mining,  86,  89,  90 
Government,  Chilean,  100 
Grahamland,  148,   151,  152,  155,   192; 

questions  as  to  coast  of,  163 
Grand  Island,  148 
Gray  days,  204 

Greenland,  regions  about,  295 
Gregory  Bay,  landing  in,  69-72 

H 

Hail  storm,  debarking  in,  30 
Halos,  363 

Harry  Island,  landing  on,  136,  137 
Health,  301,  302,  307,  334,  335,  362 
Heart  action,  291,  292 
Heated  discussions,  327 
Heavens,  brightness  of  the,  247 
High  temperature,  danger  of,  296 
Highway,  147,  197 
Hoarfrost,  fur  of,  351 
Home-going,  400,  401 
Hope  Harbour,  in,  92 
Horizon,  cheerful  glow  of,  336 
Horses,  Patagonian,  72,  73 
"  Hotel,"  captain's,  280 
Hotel  Oriental,  night's  rest  in,  31 
Housebuilding,  248,  249 
Hovgaard,  Captain,  45 
Howard,  Mr.  Thomas  W.,  U.  S.  Con- 
sul to  Uruguay,  37 
Hughes  Inlet,  in,  133,  134 
Humidity,  suffering  caused  by,  257 
Hummocks,  273,  287 

I 

Ice,  wall  of,  128,  130,  135-139 ;  varieties 
of,  153 ;  new  world  of,  154,  155  ;  start 
out  over  the,  179;  rambling  through, 
202 ;  signs  of  pressure  on  the,  225 ; 
crevassed,  239;  commotion  in  the, 
253  ;  spreading  of  the,  255  ;  new,  328  ; 
purple,  335;  experience  of  greenish 


yellow,  353;  now  most  continuous, 
363 ;  studying  the  changes  of,  386- 
388  ;  thickness  of,  388 
Icebergs,  the  first,  122, 129 ;  grazing  on, 
168,  169 ;  seventy-eight,  175 ;  differ- 
ent forms  ascribed  to,  180-182,  195- 
198 ;  disturbing  element  of,  229,  230 ; 
huge  tabular,  239;  changing  posi- 
tions of,  305 ;  winter  effect  upon,  330, 

384 
Ice-blink,  161,  X95,  198 
Ice  crystals,  245,  260,  287 
Ice-fields,  287 
Ice-flowers,  237,  238 
Ice-pack,  colours  of  the,  225 
Ice  pans,  size  of,  197 
Ice-plain,  snowless,  380 
Ice-ramming,  two  days  or,  198 
Ice-surface,  condition  of,  350,  351 
Ice-haze,  opaque  circle  of,  371 
Igloo,  357,  358 

Imprisoned  in  sight  of  open  sea,  400 
Incident,  startling,  285,  286 
Indian  huts,  sites  of,  95 
Individual  floes,  movement  among,  274, 

275 
Insomnia,  374 
Islands,  94,  95 

Jackson  apparatus,  354 

January  ist,  386;  5th,  390;  9th,  391; 
sounding,  392 ;  12th,  393 

Johansen,  336 

Journey  due  north,  239,  240 

June  ist,  303,  304;  2d,  temperature, 
304;  3d,  305 ;  temperature,  308  ;  4th, 
309 ;  5th,  310;  7th,  311 ;  temperature, 
312 ;  loth,  312 ;  temperature,  latitude 
and  longitude,  314;  loth,  tempera- 
ture, 329;  I2th,  temperature,  214; 
19th,  temperature,  318  ;  22d,  temper- 
ature, 323;  24th,  temperature,  lati- 
tude and  longitude,  324;  26th,  325; 
29th,  326 

July  4th,  Independence  Day,  327 ;  8th, 
temperature,  328;  12th,  330;  14th, 
temperature,  333;  isth,  334;  17th, 
334  ;  2ist,  temperature,  335  ;  latitude 
and  longitude,  337;  22d,  339;  23d, 
342;  temperature,  343;  24th,  343; 
temperature,  344;  25th,  344;  31st, 
temperature,  350,  354' 

Jupiter,  324 

K 

Kartenaar,  the,  cruiser,  46 
Keeping  watch,  360,  361 
Killing  a  seal,  222 
Knudsen,  125,  336 
Koren,  Y.,  182,  242,  243 
Kydbolla,  232,  233 


Labours  appreciated,  406 

Lamp  chimneys,  substitutes  for,  318 


474 


INDEX 


Lamplight  necessary,  269 

Lamp  specialist,  318 

Land  life,  forms  of,  18 

Larder,  addition  to,  330 

Larsen  Islands,  debarkment  on,  138, 139 

Latitude  and  longitude,  189,  198 

Latitude,  194  ;  farthest  south,  297 

Laurys,  Consul,  8 

Lawrence,  John,  Mr.,  97 

Leads,  large,  235;  large  open,  236; 
converted  into  lakes,  237 ;  breadth  of, 
239;  green  colours  of,  262;  general 
direction  of.  353,  368,  379 

Lecointe,  George,  captain, 4;  describes 
final  departure,  48,  49,  56,  57;  victim 
of  Mai  de  Mer,  66 ;  visits  sheep  farm, 
72-76 ;  efforts  to  return  to  the  Belgica, 
76,  TJ  ;  volunteers  to  rescue  Wiencke, 
127,  128,  136;  reports  discovery  of 
islands,  143;  sees  first  south  polar 
star,  162,  164,  181 ;  obtains  an  obser- 
vation, 189,  215,  221 ;  pays  a  forfeit, 
244;  puts  up  box-shaped  house,  248; 
first  observation  in  new  house,  249; 
mending  instruments,  259  ;  tries  ob- 
servations, 261;  sighting  the  stars, 
262,  263,  276;  sees  inexplicable  light, 
285  ;  deduces  position,  297 ;  completes 
details,  300 ;  certificate  presented  by, 
313 ;  experiment  of,  314 ;  in  the  "  bak- 
ing treatment,"  321 ;  good  humour  of, 
330;  bad  symptoms  of,  331 ;  recovery 
of,  333 ;  elation  of,  337 ;  appearance 
of,  341,  349,  378;  observations,  391, 

395          „  ,   . 
Legation,  Belgian,  3 
Leopold,  King,  41 ;  visits  the  Belgica, 

47 ;  birthday  of,  249,  250,  386,  406 
Leptonychotes  WeddelU,  383 
Le  Maire,  navigator,  83 
Lichens,  moss  and,  141 
Liege  Island,  137,  145,  148 
Life,  only  cheerful,  183;  on  the  pack, 

202 ;  value  of,  372 
Livingston  Island,  123,  124 
Light  daily  increasing,  330 
Loboden  Carcinophaga,  368,  383 
Londonderry  Is  and,  on,  95,  96 
Long  night,  commencement  of,  278; 

fifth  day  of,  288 
Low  Island,  128 

M 

Machine,  Monacho,  55 

Magalhaes,  Fernao  de,  67-69 

Magelestris,  186 

Magellan,  82,  98 

Magellan  Strait,  fortification  of,  83 

Magdalene  Sound,  through,  93 

Mail,  reading  the,  405 

Mainland,  continuation  of,  162 

Mai  de  mer,  65,  66 

March  ist,  latitude  and  longitude,  264; 

4th,  201;  sounding,  202;    13th,  206; 

iStlf,  211;    i6th,  214;    temperature, 


218;  17th,  temperature,  221;  i8th, 
221;  19th,  223;  2oth,  temperature, 
latitude  and  longitude,  227;  21st,  230; 
22d,  temperature,  234 ;  23d,  tempera- 
ture, 234;  25th,  236;  26th,  temper- 
ature, 237;  27th,  238;  28th,  241,  401; 
29th,  241 ;  31st,  temperature,  243 

Maury,  Lieutenant,  54 

May  I,  274;  i6th,  latitude  and  longi- 
tude, 281 ;  17th,  283 ;  temperature, 
284;  i8th,  286;  health  and  spirits, 
289-292;  22d,  temperature,  292;  27th, 
temperature,  294;  29th,  296;  temper- 
ature, 297;  31st,  latitude,  367;  lati- 
tude and  longitude,  297;  tempera- 
ture, 298 

Meal,  a  needed,  354 ;  time  in  preparing 
a,  356 

Medicament  of  Uttle  service,  331,  332 

Megaptera  Boops,  369 

Melaerts,  J.,  336 

Men,  humorous  and  sorrowful  sight  of, 
173 ;  kept  busy,  305 

Menendez,  Alexander,  Chilean  sheep- 
farmer,  72,  73-75,  107 

Mending,  259 

Meteorological  work,  300 

Michotte,  the  cook,  importance  of,  182 ; 
strength  of,  331 

Midnight,  darkest  days  of,  318-321 

Midnight  thaw,  318 

Mirage  of  the  moon,  299 

Mirages  seen  for  the  first  time,  184 

Mission,  success  of,  390,  391 

Mist,  opaque,  361 

Monotony,  effect  of,  301 

Mount  Alio,  130,  138 

Mount  Brugman,  137 

Mount  Buena  Vista,  form  of,  22 

Mount  Pierre,  130 

Mount  Sarmiento,  glaciers  of,  94 

Mount  Wilham,  147 

Montevideo,  cable  message  to,  405 ;  in 
the  harbour  of,  28  ;  city  of,  29,  31-33 ; 
University  of,  33 ;  time  spent  in,  35 ; 
promenades  of,  36;  charming  women 
of,  36,  37 ;  general  impressions  of,  38 

Monte- Video,  San  Felipe  de,  31 

Month  of  August,  disappointment  in, 
362 

Months,  happiest,  270,  271 

Moon,  anomalous  faces  of  the,  206; 
curious  attraction  of  the,  247;  first 
glimpse  of,  269,  270 

Monotony,  326 

Mother  Earth,  substitute  for,  306 

Murray,  John,  "Antarctica"  of,  265 

Mysterious  land  signs  of,  185,  186 

N 

Nansen,  Fridtjof,  Dr.,  43 ;  wires  Belgian 
expedition,  45  ;  health  of  crew  of,  321 ; 
pattern  of,  347;  tent  plans  of,  348 
Nansen  Island,  144,  148 
"  Nansen,"  the  mascot,  325,  326 


475 


INDEX 


Narratives,  part  suppressed  of,  290 

Nautical  observations,  conditions  per- 
mitting, 172 

Navigation,  extreme  difficulty  of,  185 

Navigation,  season  for,  188 

Neumayer  Channel,  148 

Neumayer,  Dr.,  45 

New^s,  happiest,  338 

Newspapers,  404 

Newly  discovered  land,  formal  taking 
possession  of,  240 

New  Year's  Day,  386-389 

Nights,  character  of,  176,  177 

Night  of  special  interest,  151,  152 

Noises,  132,  187,  197,  198,  297 

Noonatak,  ascent  of  a,  141-143 

Noonataks,  138 

Nordenskiold,  Professor,  39 

Notable  sights,  146 

Northerly  winds,  characteristic  of,  261 

November  4th,  18;  7th,  19;  8th,  20; 
loth,  27;  9th,  373;  i6th,  storm  on, 
61-64;  25th,  latitude  and  longitude, 
373  ;  26th,  274,  376;  temperature,  375  ; 
27th,  temperature,  377 


O 

Observations,  263 

Occupations,  269,  382 

Oceanography,  54 

October  15th,  367;  29th,  30 

Officers  and  men,  work  of,  397,  398 

Official  holidays,  336 

Official  weather  forecasts,  350 

Ogmorhynus  Leptonyx,  383 

Ommatophoca  Rossi,  392 

Onas,  notes  on  the,  97 ;  the  giant,  99 ; 
homes  of,  99,  100;  trouble  with,  100, 
loi ;  population,  102,  103 ;  physical 
development,  103,  104  ;  mental  equip- 
ment, 104  ;  language,  105  ;  food,  105, 
106;  delegation  to  sheep  farm,  io6- 
108 ;  weapons,  108,  109 ;  chase,  109, 
no;  clothing,  no;  house,  in;  family, 
112;  Ona  girl,  112-114;  marriage  re- 
lations, 114-116;  unwritten  laws,  116, 
117;  morals,  117,  118 

Open  leads,  no,  336 

Open  sea,  heading  for  the,  400 

Open  spaces  of  water,  special  study  in 
finding,  363,  364 

Opinion,  difference  of,  206,  207 

Ossifraga  gigantea,  186,  383 

Osterrieth,  Madame,  44 

Osterrieth  Mountains,  146 

Outhouses,  273,  280 

Outlook,  melancholy,  294 


Pack,  expansion  of,  228,  229 ;  appear- 
ance of,  in  drift  snow,  235  ;  danger  of 
venturing  over  the,  268 ;  movement  in 
the,  374,  375 


Pack-ice,  southward  through  the,  163, 
164 ;  in  the,  183 ;  travelling  over,  386, 
last  latitude  of,  400 

"  Pack  Loafer's  World,"  232 

Pagodroma  nivea,  381 

Palmer  archipelago,  148 

Palmer,  Nathaniel,  Captain,  129,  148 

Pampero,  61-64 

Panorama,  view  of  new,  163 

Pans  separated,  359,  360;  diminution 
of,  379 

Paraselenas,  247,  258,  363 

Parhelias,  245,  247,  258,  260,  363,  371 

Patagonia,  along  the  coast  of,  64-66; 
sheep  farming  in,  73-75 

Paths,  273 

Patria,  the,  41 

Peary,  Arctic  Expedition,  331 

Peary,  Lieutenant,  147,  316 

Peary,  Mrs,,  7 

Peculiar  phenomena,  389 

Pedersen,  Captain,  41 

Penguins,  78,  79;  city  of,  143,  186,  187; 
royal,  193,  198,  201,  202,  210;  weird 
response  of,  224,  229 ;  meat  use  of, 
234 ;  group  of,  235 ;  tracks,  direction 
of,  239 ;  meat,  333,  334 ;  hunting,  new 
system  of,  382 

Peter  Island,  202,  265 

Petrels,  193,  198,201,  218,  229 

Phosphorescent  snow,  286 

Phosphorescence,  tests  of,  367,  368 

Photographic,  day,  a,  145 

Photographs,  feeble  light  for,  262,  293, 

373 

Photograph,  midnight,  144 

Physical  appearance,  398 

Physical  loss,  291 

Physiognomies,  curious,  404 

Polar  anaemia,  302,  321,  322,  331 

Polar  farm,  279 

Polar  night,  attractions  of,  366 

Polar  regions,  reasons  for  fascination 
of,  218-220 

Polar  river,  great,  356 

Polar  summer,  passing  into,  370 

Polar  work,  Brazilian  versions  of,  7 

Port  Famine,  84 

Predecessors,  historical  record  of,  129, 
130 

Premonitions,  190 

Presidents,  methods  for  changing,  28, 
29 

Pressure,  great,  298 

Prismatic  effects,  260 

Programmes,  long  series  of  new,  192, 
372 

Punta  Arenas,  growth  of,  80;  aston- 
ishing character,  81,  82;  history  of, 
82-86;  street  scenes,  86-88;  location, 
88  ;  result  of  discoveries,  88-90  ;  archi- 
tecture, 90;  immigrants,  90,  91 ;  leav- 
ing, 92 ;  in  port  at,  401-405 


Questions,  315 


476 


INDEX 


R 

Racovitza,  Emile,  zoologist,  in  advance 
of  expedition,  8,  42;  arrangements 
made  by,  81,  132,  133,  136;  discovery 
of,  143 ;  finds  sea  algae,  175 ;  plans 
of,  192;  studies,  241,  242;  kills  seals, 
243,  244;  patches  pantaloons,  259; 
fishes,  267,  268 ;  in  the  laboratory, 
299;  plans  a  book,  300;  humor  of, 
337 ;  plays  whist,  344 ;  sees  new  bird, 
377 !  g^ts  specimens,  391 ;  remark 
of,  395,  40S 

Raleigh,  Walter,  Sir,  83 

Recreation,  239 

Recuperation,  backwardness  in,  365, 
366 

Regions,  disheartening  series  of,  351 

Renewed  interest,  342 

Resting  place  for  the  night,  150 

Results,  390,  391 

Retribution,  H.  M.  S.,  32 

Reynard,  H,  I.,  Mr.,  originator  of  first 
Magellanic  sheep  farming,  77,  78 

Rhodes,  91 

Ridges,  272,  273 

Rio  de  Janeiro,  city  of,  10-12 

Rio  de  la  Plata,  importance  of  the,  22, 
23  ;  in  the,  59,  60 

Rio,  from  Madeira  to,  17 

Rio  Grande  do  Sul,  province  of,  20 

Rising,  difficulty  of,  303,  304 

Ross  seals,  392 

Routine,  regular,  301 

Royal  Geographical  Society  opens  sub- 
scription list,  41 


S 

Sail  Rock,  125,  126 

Samples  of  sea  life,  299 

SanareUi,  I.,  Dr.,  Itahan  bacteriologist, 

33-35 
Sandy  Point,  first  sight  of,  79 
SchoUaert,  Mr.,  Minister  of  the  Interior, 

44 
Schouten,  navigator,  83 
Scene,    a   despairing,   196;    fairy-like, 

352 
Scientific  staff,  short  excursions  of,  227 ; 

return  home  of,  405 
Sea  algae,  175,  217,  286 
Sea-ice,  229,  230 
Sea  lanes,  217 
Sea-leopard,  210,  211 
Seals,  186,  198,  201,  202,  210,  328,  329; 

examine  tent,  360;  killed,  277;  means 

of  obtaining,  382 
Sealers,  Norwegian,  40 
Sealing,  27 
"  Seal,  new,"  180 
Seal  shooting,  293 
Securing  game,  efforts  in,  364 
Sensation,  a  strange,  199 
September  8th,  temperature,  363 
Settlement,  penal,  84,  85 


Sheep  farming,  73-76,  86,  89,  100,  102 

Ship  arranged  for  the  winter,  271,  272 

Short-lived  hilarity,  cause  of,  372,  373 

Sierra  Du  Fief,  147 

Sight,  an  exciting,  204-206 

Signs,  constant,   203;    deceptive,  186; 
of  nearness  to  open  sea,  275,  276 

Silence,  343 

Situation,  a  curious,  199 

Ski,  on,  235,  239,  248,  274,  306,  319,  320, 
329,  353,  384 

Ski-traveUing,  excellent,  239 

Skis  and  sledges,  difficulty  of  using, 
242 

Skis,  Norwegian,  228 

Sledge  journeys,  349 

Sledges,  lesson  learned  regarding,  244 

Sledging  party,  return  of,  359,  362 

Sledge-shoeing,  351 

Sledging-party,  349 

Sledge  traveUing,  350-353.  355.  3S6, 
359-362 

Sleep,  character  of,  201 

Sleeping-bacf.  212,  214 

Smith  Island,  123 

Snowfall,  total,  379 

Snow,  filled  with,  371,  372 

Snowhouse,  building  the  second,  356, 
357  J  sojourn  in,  358 

Snow  made  adhesive,  242 

Snow-shoes,  222 ;  travel  on,  228 

Snow  showers,  376 

Social  enthusiasm  worn  out,  385,  386 

Society,  Rio  Geographical,  10,  12 

Sohd  ground,  longing  for,  386 

Solvay,  Mr.,  promoter  of  science,  40 

Sophie  Rocks,  opposite,  144 

Sounding,  202  ;  deep-sea,  189 

Soundings,  121,  122 

South  America,  milk  and  butter  in,  60, 
61 ;  most  noted  man  in,  33 

South  American  cities,  growth  of,  25 

Southern  cross,  315 

South  polar  exploration,  season  for,  43 

South  polar  lands  shielded,  203 

South  Shetland  Islands,  121-125,  128, 
129 

Special  feast,  313 

Star,  first  south  polar,  162 

Steaming  slowly  westward,  152 

Staten  Island,  final  adieu  at,  121 

Steuben rach,  Mr.,  100 

Storm,  a  melancholy,  126-128;  demons, 
62-64;  effect  of,  220-224;  off  Pata- 
gonia, 61-64;  on  the  edge  of  the 
pack,  194-197 

Storms,  temperature  after,  227 

Stoves,  316-318 

Strait  of  Magellan,  in  the,  69-71 

Suits,  different  styles  of,  347 

Summer  nightless  days,  373,  374 

Sun,  a  peep  at  the,  224 ;  unreliable  as  a 
fixed  point,  261 ;  sight  of  the  return- 
ing, 339-342  ;  normal  face  of  the,  344, 
345  ;  highest  altitude  of,  387 
Sun  effect,  283,  284 


477 


INDEX 


Sunset  phenomena,  187,  188, 190 ;  strik- 
ingly beautiful,  19,  20 
Sunday  jaunt,  293 
Sunday,  observance  of,  296 
Sunburst,  slight  suggestion  of,  277,  278 
Sunshine,  rarity  of,  376 
Surroundings,  new  charms  of,  201 
Surprise,  ornithological,  171 
Survey,  145 
System,  American  Sigsbee,  54 


Van  Mirlo,  desperate  effort  of,  361 

Van  Wyck  Island,  148 

Van  Wyck,  Mayor,  148 

View,  general  aspect  of,  272,  273 

Vapour,  peculiar,  287 

Ventilation,  best  means  of,  256 

Vessel,   desperate    attempt  to    reach, 

361,  362 
View,  superb,  136,  137 
Volunteers  called  for,  141 
Visit  of  penguins  and  seals,  210 


Tabular  iceberg,  deceptive  nearness  of, 

352;  distance  and  appearance  of,  355, 

356 ;  reached,  383-385 
Task,  first  large,  121 
Temperature,  137,  209,  210,  218,  224, 

333 ;  maximum  and  minimum,  363, 

372,  373 ;  normal,  377,  383 
Temperatures  at  various  depths,  189 
Tent  pitched,  353,  354 
Tents,  348 
Terre  de  Danco,  149 
Thaw  coming,  222 
Tierra  del  Fuego,  186,  390 
Tollefsen,  179;  permanently  deranged, 

385 
Top  line,  287 
Tonite,  53;    explosive  power  of,  394, 

395 
Tent  pitched,  360,  361 
Totro,  the,  gunboat,  92 
Tracks,  335 

Transformation,  rapid,  208,  209 
Treatment,  system  of,  332 
Trenches,  cutting,  393,  394 
Triangulation,  sights  made  for,  138 
Trophies,  385 

Tropical  night,  approach  of,  16 
Twilight,  bright    blue,   344;    midday, 

288,  299 
Two  days  gale,  370-372 
Two  Hummock  Islands,  136 

U 

Undercurrent,  suggestion  of  an,  375 
Uruguay,  sandy  beds  of,  27,  28  ;  popu- 
lation,  31 ;    imports,   32 ;    fruit    and 
vegetables  of,  60 
Ushuaia,  small  town  of,  97 


Van  den  Steen,  Count,  Minister  of  Bel- 
gian Legation,  3,  4,  6,  8,  9,  12,  16 


W 

Walk,  awkward,  402,  403 

Wandel,  Commander,  of  Copenhagen, 
43 

Warm  weather,  constant  complaints  of, 
277 

Watches,  355 

Water-sky,  171,  185,  187,  217,  305 

Water  supply,  139,  140 

Wauwermans  Islands,  147 

Weather  unendurable,  308 

Weddell  sea-leopards,  356 

Weddell  Sea,  search  for  opening  into, 
135 

Welcoming  the  day,  342 

Westerly,  a  chance  to  push,  193 

Whaleboat  Sound,  in,  94,  95 

Whist,  game  of,  304 

White  House,  8 

White  rainbow,  or  fog-eater,  262 

White  Squadron,  32 

Wiencke,  loss  of,  126-128 

Wiencke  Island,  147 

Wild  life,  stirs  of,  165 

Wilhelmina  Bay,  143 

Wilhelmina,  Queen,  46,  386 

Wilke's  "  appearance  of  land,"  266 

"  Williwaws,"  93 

Wind,  fury  of  the,  20,  21 ;  weather  de- 
pending on  the,  258,  310 ;  service  of, 
388 

Winter  campaign  of  work,  241 

Wintering  in  the  pack,  opposition  to, 
191,  192 

Work,  first  and  most  important,  271 

Women,  first  glimpse  of,  403 


Yacht  Club,  Antwerp,  46 
Yahgans,  99 
Yankee  Harbour,  192 
Yellow  fever,  germ  of,  33-3S 


478 


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